Labgi growth fund details revealed
Author: Local Government Chronicle |
The government has unveiled details of the sub-regions into which councils will be grouped to receive money from its flagship economic growth programme.
The Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) originally intended to group all local authorities into 29 sub-regions, some of which would have included two or three county areas, for the purposes of sharing out money from the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (Labgi) scheme.
But following a consultation with councils, that number has now been increased to 55 with most grouping based around county or major conurbation areas.
Exceptions include Essex and Kent, which have been split into three, and Sussex, Hampshire and Yorkshire all of which have been split into two groupings.
?My understanding is that these arrangements better reflect what authorities asked for,? said David Madison, a policy officer at the Local Government Association.
The amount to be distributed has been cut from 150m to 100m (LGC, 23 July). Each sub-region will receive a share of 50m this year and next year according to its relative performance in growing the amount collected through business rates.
However, as the calculation is based on a rolling three year average, the next two years will in effect reward councils for business growth in years for which they received funds under the old LABGI scheme.