Tag Archives: LEP

How Cornwall’s using devolution to grow its green economy

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Cows graze in front of wind turbines in Cornwall, UK.This post is by Sarah Newton, the Conservative MP for Truro and Falmouth. 

Last July, Cornwall was the first county to sign a devolution deal with central government, giving Cornwall Council, NHS Kernow and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) greater control over how the county’s taxes are spent and our local public services are run. The deal is a great opportunity to improve the health and well-being of people in Cornwall, and to grow our economy sustainably. The questions are how we can use the deal to our best advantage and, in relation to issues like climate resilience and extreme weather, whether Cornwall has the answers to its own problems. Read more

Localism is the cornerstone of environmentalism

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localismThis post is by Sarah Newton, Conservative MP for Truro and Falmouth, one of the MPs working with us on our Climate Leadership Programme. This post was first published by The Guardian.

As a member of the science and technology select committee I am delighted to have secured and be participating in an inquiry into public understanding of climate change.

As we have interviewed expert witnesses and considered a range of written evidence, one thing has struck me in particular. While there is an ongoing public discussion on climate change that needs more scientific input and greater participation, a clear development in recent years has been the rise in the numbers of people prepared to do something about climate change. Read more

Green liberalism: are Local Enterprise Partnerships working for low carbon development?

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Business_Park,_SwindonThis post is by Duncan Hames, MP for Chippenham. It is one of a collection of essays to be published later this week by Green Alliance, titled Green liberalism: a local approach to the low carbon economy. Similar collections will also be published under Green Alliance’s ‘Green social democracy’ and ‘Green conservatism’ projects, as part of our Green Roots programme, aiming to stimulate green thinking within the three dominant political traditions in the UK. This piece has also been published on Liberal Democrat Voice.

A one size fits all policy, devised at a distance, imposed on local communities and implemented rigidly, is unlikely to rise to the environmental challenges we face today. That’s why we should give Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) the freedom to grasp this challenge in a different way to traditional bodies, such as central government and Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).

LEPs are characterised by their variety. Most contain local enterprise zones, but others do not. Some receive local authority funding in addition to government grants, but others have set up as limited companies, enabling them to fund themselves. This diversity is echoed in their approaches to green growth: several have set out as trailblazers; while others would do well to follow that lead. Read more