Birmingham and Solihull have moved a step closer towards
creating a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
With proposals for establishing the partnerships facing a
September deadline, Birmingham Chamber Group (BCG) has hosted a
summit of key businesses, to pave the way for the creation of a
local LEP.
LEPs are due to replace Advantage West Midlands (AWM), which the
coalition government has be axed.
The government has decreed that the LEPs will be business led,
and the meeting at Chamber House, Edgbaston, was a chance for
companies and organisations to have their say on the subject.
The meeting, chaired by Birmingham Chamber Group chief executive
Jerry Blackett, explored businesses' view on the vision for the
LEP, including: how it could attract investment into the region,
and how it could create the best environment for the business
community to thrive in.
Mr Blackett said: "By grasping the LEP opportunity at the
earliest possible moment, local businesses have the best chance of
ensuring that it delivers for them.
"Today's meeting allowed us to get into the guts of what a
successful LEP for Birmingham and Solihull will look like and
achieve. It must create wealth and increase private sector
employment.
"To do so, it needs to create the best business environment
possible by maximising value from its activities. It will need to
build upon existing strengths as well as articulate what makes
Birmingham and Solihull distinctive and important, as it seeks to
access funding from regional growth funds.
"Our delegates also had the opportunity to articulate their
vision for how the LEP should work with business. It must be
relevant to SMEs as well as corporates with the best available
leadership from both public and private sectors.
"It will need tangible targets around GDP, productivity and
private sector jobs.
"It's also clear that it must have teeth and that we need to
ensure it has real powers and the ability to direct funds in
future. I think there's also a duty on us to ensure from the outset
that LEPs work together effectively to deliver for the West
Midlands. We must not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
"The Chamber will use this information as it seeks to
co-ordinate business engagement with the local authorities on LEPs.
We are also working with other business representation
organisations as well as business leaders across Birmingham and
Solihull."
Mr Blackett added that Birmingham Chamber remained of the
opinion that businesses and the public sector needed to work
together, both locally and across sub-regional boundaries, in order
to maximise the economic potential of the West Midlands.
He said that there would be areas where working on a larger
stage would produce better results.
"For example, the economic inter-relationships between areas
such as Birmingham, the Black Country, Solihull and Southern
Staffordshire can be combined very effectively when we seek to
compete globally in promoting and selling ourselves, and attracting
inward investment," he said.