Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2015 to Question 224800, and with reference to Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon's letter of 17 February 2015 to local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and local partners, what steps he plans to take to ensure that LEPs and local partners will continue to have decisive input into funding decisions; who within each managing authority will make final funding decisions; what criteria will be used to make such decisions and when that information will be communicated to stakeholders; and what powers the Programme Monitoring Committee will have to enable it to effectively oversee local funding decisions in England when decisions are no longer to be taken by LEPs and other local partners.

The Operational Programme governing the 2014-20 European Regional Development Fund in England will set out the role of Local Enterprise Partnerships and local partners. The Government is clear that local plan priorities will shape funding decisions, with local partners strongly engaged in the first calls due later this month and in the assessment of applications. We will review Local Enterprise Partnerships' and partners’ role in the programme in the next 12 months and use that time to work with them to develop proposals for greater local responsibility. The Department will be publishing selection criteria alongside the first calls for projects. The role of the Programme Monitoring Committee is set out in European Regulations and do not provide for the Programme Monitoring Committee to have a role in project selection.

The programme has to operate within the rigid and bureaucratic rules set by the European Commission.