Former Labour Treasury and local government minister John Healey will publish a report tomorrow arguing for radical reform of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

At an event being held in Leeds and London tomorrow, Mr Healey and co-author Les Newby, a former director of Yorkshire Futures, will recommend an accelerated devolution of economic policy powers which could see councils granted greater powers and more money to boost local economic growth.

The report, published by leading think-tank the Smith Institute, analyses the policy lessons from the defunct Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and their LEP successors in driving economic prosperity and jobs at local level.

Entitled - Making Local Economies Matter the 100-page report will argue a fresh commitment to stronger support for England's local economies is essential to tackle the widening economic divide between prosperous and poorer areas. 

According to Mr Healey's analysis, the performance of RDAs stand up well when compared to the LEPs which replaced them after 2010.  But he concludes that scrapping LEPs and starting again from scratch would be the wrong policy choice.

Instead he will set out proposals to reinforce the position of LEPs and local authority partners with more powers and funds to boost economic development.
 
In a joint foreword, Ed Balls MP and Lord Andrew Adonis welcome the report and its recommendations.