Abstract
The Labour Governments of 1997–2010 introduced a range of new regional institutions in England, which were subsequently abolished after the 2010 General Election. This article re-assesses the lessons which emerged from the regional policies pursued during this period and argues the Coalition Government elected in 2010 has failed to learn those lessons. The article identifies three key lessons: that place and scale matter, that local government needs to be centrally involved, and that local economic development initiatives require effective local leadership to gain the buy-in of the private sector. The lessons contained in this article retain relevance for current and future regional development efforts.
Highlights
Sub-national economic development policy in England has tended to alternate between interventions based at the regional tier and those at the level of the cityregion (Harrison 2007, Etherington and Jones 2009)
The current policy vehicle of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) was introduced by the Coalition Government following the 2010 General Election and replaced the previous Labour Government’s Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), which had been in place since 1998
The paper looks at one region in England in particular the lessons outlined in the paper are relevant for policy interventions at a smaller tier than the East Midlands so remain relevant for the LEPs
Summary
Sub-national economic development policy in England has tended to alternate between interventions based at the regional tier and those at the level of the cityregion (Harrison 2007, Etherington and Jones 2009). This paper contributes to a (re)appraisal of place based economic development strategies by focusing in particular on efforts to gain private sector involvement in sub-national governance and assessing the multi-scalar nature of the regional policy in England.
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