Heseltine report: Manufacturers warn on too much LEP power

Terry Scuoler, chief executive of the manufacturers' organisation EEF, said the review represented welcome recognition that all parts of government needed to get behind companies that were "looking to grow to create the stronger economy we need". However, he cautioned that the government needed to consider its proposals carefully to ensure that they offer value for money and review how they would work in practice. Scuoler continued: "This is particularly true of Lord Heseltine's thinking on LEPs (local enterprise partnerships). Giving them the tools to make a real impact on issues such as planning and transport, and the power to cut through the obstacles to growth at the local level make sense. But, government needs to make sure that they are up to the task before giving them control of large slugs of public money and there are areas where it should be cautious about giving them additional powers. "In particular, it should look carefully at the case for giving LEPs control of funding for skills. We have been here before and it has not worked, the last thing we need is another level of bureaucracy between the employer and the provider." Also commenting on the review, CBI director-general John Cridland pointed to the need for "every part of Britain needs to grow – we mustn't just rely on the usual suspects of London and the South-East". Institute of Directors director general Simon Walker said Lord Heseltine's proposals on foreign investment into the UK were "worrying". He thought "the idea that we should be suspicious of people from around the world putting the money into our country is misguided". TUC general secretary Brendan Barber welcomed the idea of boosting the powers and lending capacity of the British Business Bank, but warned that Heseltine would "have his work cut out in convincing ministers of this new approach, who are going to have to change their attitude towards civil servants, public bodies and unions if they want this strategy to succeed".