Lichfield District Council to exit local enterprise partnership after changes are confirmed - Lichfield Live® (original) (raw)
Lichfield District Council House
Lichfield District Council is set to exit a group seeking to drive economic growth across the Midlands after changes were drawn up as part of Levelling Up proposals.
The local authority is currently a member of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP).
But a desire to integrate patnerships into mayoral authorities means that councils which sit outside of the West Midlands Combined Authority will no longer be able to remain part of the GBSLEP.
A meeting of Lichfield District Council next week will formally agree to start the process of withdrawing from the group.
A report by the local authority’s governance manager, Mark Hooper, said:
“Lichfield District Council has been a member of GBSLEP since 2011.
“The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership was established as a partnership of business, public sector, further and higher education to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth across the region.
“The Government’s Levelling Up White Paper set out the requirement for local enterprise partnerships to integrate into mayoral combined authorities where they exist and remove geographical overlaps.
“Local Authorities, like Lichfield District, that are located outside of the West Midlands Combined Authority need to exit GBSLEP.
“It is therefore proposed that the district council approve revisions to the GBSLEP articles of association to facilitate a new board structure and stand down from membership of the GBSLEP when the new model, comprising Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, is adopted.”
Mark Hooper, Lichfield District Council
The report will be discussed at a meeting of the full council on 18th April.
Lichfield District Council opted not to join the West Midlands Combined Authority in 2015.
Then leader Cllr Mike Wilcox said the lack of a power of veto on votes impacting on the district were behind the decision not to sign up to the new regional body.