Business secretary Vince Cable has championed City Deals as the coalition's preferred route for decentralising funding and powers in support of local growth.

Addressing the Local Enterprise Partnership's annual conference in Westminster today, Dr Cable said there ‘is now a significant commitment to the decentralisation of funding'.

'The model that we found most satisfactory and we are looking to develop is the City Deal concept,' said Dr Cable.

To date the eight major English core cities have struck deals with central government over devolved funding and powers and 20 other cities are currently in preliminary discussions for a second wave of City Deals.

Dr Cable said: ‘The emphasis has to be different but the model, whereby cities, and increasingly small cities and in due course other Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) put in bids for decentralised funding and decision making is the model we want to follow.

However, Dr Cable derided as a ‘simplistic interpretation' of the government's single pot strategy – to combine multiple pro-growth funding streams into a vast biddable cashpot – those who thought the government would simply hand out billions of pounds to local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) to spend. 

‘I don't think it was ever envisaged and it isn't going to happen', said Dr Cable.

The idea of a single pot, that would incorporate local infrastructure, skills and other aspects of development would be worked out in the run up to June's spending round, he said.  Cable added ministers were also looking to align European funding with the priorities of LEPs.

Speaking before the business secretary, housing minister Mark Prisk said the coalition wishes to delegate European Union structural funds worth €6bn as fully as possible for the duration of the next seven-year period, which starts from 2014.

Mr Prisk said EU commissioners are backing the radical intent of what he termed the ‘English growth programme'.

Mr Prisk also said the coalition is looking for local authorities and their partners to raise their game when putting together bids for control over key economic levers.  ‘If it's simply a City Deal that pulls together what you were going to do anyway it won't get clearance,' Mr Prisk said.

To this end, the housing minister urged local authorities to put aside old enmities and collaborate more closely by pooling resources and assets to make an extra difference in supporting local growth schemes.