Readers of this blog may recall an earlier article “No Stone Unturned: A New Strategy for Growth” on the report prepared by Lord Heseltine offering 89 recommendations for boosting economic growth in the UK. The report, “No Stone Unturned”, also known as the Heseltine Review of Competitiveness, was published in October 2012.
The Government has now published a formal response announcing that it is accepting the “overwhelming majority” of Lord Heseltine’s 89 recommendations.
In an extensive 60 page response, the Government called Lord Heseltine’s report “compelling” and credited it as being “full of important ideas.”
One of the central tenets of the Heseltine review has been to decentralise power and handing over economic decisions to local government and organisations. In response, the Government is creating a Single Local Growth Fund in order to attract private investment and incentivise Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and their partners to generate growth. Access to funding will be via negotiation and it is hoped to inspire competition for funding with the LEPs being asked to develop long-term strategic plans as part of the negotiation process.
You can read the full text in the Government’s response to the Heseltine review can be found at: http://bit.ly/133UrVD with the original report “No Stone Unturned” can be found at: http://bit.ly/W5nNzk