Central cash: The County Council say the Local Enterprise Partnership will be ready for Christmas, to bid for regional funding.
The first enterprise partnership in Lincolnshire should be in operation by Christmas, the County Council claims, so that it can start bidding for central government cash.
As previously reported, the Government approved the Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) on October 28, along with 23 other LEPs across the country.
The LEPs, replacing England’s nine regional development agencies, can bid for cash from a national £1.4billion growth fund.
The founding board will have 12 members, six from businesses and six from across publicly funded organisations, and a Chair elected from its business members.
Once the Board has met for the first time, it will publish a Prospectus for Action to deliver on the LEP’s strapline of Prosperity Through Growth.
Cllr Martin Hill, Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, said the Lincolnshire LEP will be up and running as soon as possible, probably before Christmas:
“This will allow us to get started in preparing funding bids to the new Regional Growth Fund, which could benefit projects such as North Hykeham’s Teal Park and bring forward business growth in areas such as Grantham and Lincoln which have Growth Point Status.
“We’ve agreed that we’ll have an initial board in place by the end of the month, with the inaugural meeting taking place before Christmas.
“These are exciting times and this would be a real Christmas bonus for the area as we strive to create jobs and bring business growth for the benefit of all our residents.”
Michael Self, Lincolnshire Regional Organiser for the Federation of Small Businesses, said that the progress with the county LEP is good news:
“This is a great opportunity for public and private sectors to work together for the benefit of all our population. Businesses, large and small, have a major contribution to bring to the prosperity of our county.
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