06.12.13
No evaluation planned for funding for local growth
Local growth organisations and initiatives have not demonstrated that they are capable of delivering value for money, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.
Analysing the performance of LEPs, Enterprise Zones, City Deals and the Regional Growth Fund, the report found that there is no plan to measure outcomes or evaluate performance of these mechanisms.
Additionally, Enterprise Zones and the Regional Growth Fund are slow to create jobs, facing a “significant” challenge to produce as many as expected. The government must plan reorganisations of local growth spending more effectively, the NAO stated.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “Three years on from the 2010 White Paper, the new local Enterprise Partnerships are taking shape and jobs are being created. But the transition from the old to the new schemes has not been orderly and there has been a significant dip in growth spending.
“To secure value for money from both the existing schemes and the new £2bn Growth Deals, central government needs to make sure that there is enough capacity centrally and locally to oversee initiatives, that timescales are realistic and that there is clear accountability.”
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