Comment: 'LLR has shown it can lead economic renewal'

As a longstanding Leicester LEP director - chairing its Investment Board for more than five years - I saw first hand what happens when Government trusts local people to make decisions about their own area.

Distribution of the £126m Local Growth Fund was one example. Twenty projects funded, each allocated based on local business cases, none of the investment directed from London.

The results were telling: 1,776 jobs created or safeguarded. 2,215 learners supported. 2,332 new homes. Numbers were projected to quadruple as longer-term benefits were realised.

In terms of projects, the impact of Local Growth Fund has outlived the LLEP itself. Think Space Park Leicester, or the dualling of the A512 heading from the M1 towards Loughborough, or the superfast broadband coverage now utilised by 5,500 additional small businesses. Think £1.28 added from local public and private partners for every pound of Government money spent.

Lasting projects, meeting a demonstrable local need.

Economic impact like this was achieved by bringing business leaders, local authorities, universities, colleges and community representatives collaborating around a shared purpose: use of public investment to unlock opportunity for the good of LLR.

I see the same opportunity writ large in regional devolution.

For years, I have advocated, both in the East Midlands and in Whitehall, for a greater transfer of power to the country’s regions.

The agenda began in earnest under Boris Johnson and Levelling Up, was taken forward by Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, and now - under Andy Burnham - is accelerating towards national rollout.

All authorities in England have been told that every part of England must establish at least a Foundation Strategic Authority by the end of next year. But our aim should not simply to be getting Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) to that entry level.

Swiftly achieving Strategic Mayoral Authority (SMA) status before progressing to top-level Established Strategic Mayoral Authority (ESMA) status is what our region truly needs. This is where fuller devolution of power rests.

It’s clear that having an elected ambassador for LLR - one with a direct line into Downing Street - is key. Mr Burnham’s own time as Mayor of Greater Manchester shows the value of this, but so does the success of other influential mayoral leaders, such as Andy Street and Ben Houchen in the West Midlands and Teesside respectively.

We only have to look at the Prime Minister's actions this summer - in calling Mayors to Number 10 North within days of taking office - to see why having a Mayor is essential.

ESMA status was promptly handed to EMCCA - our neighbours to the north - while LLR was not in the room. This imbalance needs to be addressed immediately.

Collaboration between local sectors seen under the LLEP proved that major regeneration, skills, business support and infrastructure schemes can be delivered locally in sub-regions. It showed that places like Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are more than capable of making sound decisions about how and where to invest public money in their own back yard.

The challenge now is not to recreate the LLEP of the past. However, building on what works is how organisations grow and succeed. A swiftly agreed Devolution deal - with an effective Mayor able to bridge LLR with Whitehall - is what’s needed to redirect desperately-needed funding to our area. The alternative, as we have seen clearly in the Devolution Leicestershire data, is to fall even further behind.