Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons the new Anglia LEP has received an extension on its loan facility but the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP was refused a similar request.

Growth Deals were bespoke to each LEP area and negotiated with Government based on each LEP’s multi-year Strategic Economic Plan, taking into account their priorities for which interventions would drive economic growth in their area. Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP submitted two proposals to support existing business support initiatives. GCGP LEP prioritised one of the proposals, the Agri-tech fund, during negotiations, which received £1.55m in 2015/16 in their Growth Deal.