Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the quality of local assurance frameworks prepared by local enterprise partnerships.

We have put robust assurance systems in place, with the right balance of central and local accountability. Section 151 officers from the accountable local authorities for each of the 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships have written to the Department confirming that their assurance frameworks adhere to our national standards. We have regular discussions with LEPs on their progress with local growth programmes, and an annual performance review with each LEP.