A leading welfare adviser to prime minister David Cameron has urged councils and their business partners to set up ‘rebel' local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) if their formal application is rejected by Whitehall.

Emma Harrison, chair of Action for Employment (a4e), told the Local Government Association conference on 30 June that being told by Whitehall that they could not form an official LEP should not act as a barrier to dynamic localities with a vision for economic growth.