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Devolution Deal for Gloucestershire
Devolution of powers from central Government is on the cards for Gloucestershire, as GFirst LEP, the six district councils, the county council, police and the Clinical Commissioning Group agreed the terms that were sent to Government last week.
4 August 2015
The statement of intent outlines how Gloucestershire would benefit from devolved powers, in order to utilise the experience, capability, ambition and enthusiasm within the county.
Recently Greg Clark, Communities Secretary, spoke about devolution, and stated that the partnerships LEP’s have created between local businesses and local government have been phenomenal in creating economic growth, and that LEP’s will be at the heart of devolution deals.
The Local Enterprise Partnership is currently leading growth in the local economy through innovative initiatives that include skills and employability support. Further matching of education and skills provision to business needs will ensure the gap between business, education and apprenticeships narrow further.
The simplification of decision making around planning and infrastructure through devolution will support inward investment opportunities within the county, providing the supply of employment land to match the demand of new and existing businesses, to support the creation of jobs. The strong partnership between GFirst LEP and the University of Gloucestershire, is leading the delivery of a co-ordinated, simplified and tailored business support service through the creation of the Growth Hub network. Closer relationships with local businesses will provide an opportunity to take this further, to make business support services even more responsive to local needs.
David Owen, Chief Executive of GFirst LEP, said: “Through the devolution process GFirst LEP will continue to work with partners to align public, private and voluntary sector working. Ensuring that strong alignment of resources will keep local businesses as a strong voice in the decisions and planning of public investment in the county.”
Dr Diane Savory OBE DL, Chair of GFirst LEP, commented: “I wholeheartedly support devolution of central Government powers to Gloucestershire. To fully achieve the ambitions of our Strategic Economic Plan, it’s imperative that Gloucestershire has devolved accountability and budgets for the key levers of the local economy to enable county-wide economic growth and planning to be driven by GFirst LEP.
GFirst LEP already has an excellent reputation with central Government, which will help to simplify decision making, and make sure planned growth happens when and where it should. Gloucestershire should be at the forefront of showing how successful devolution can be.”
