EEDA - East of England Development Agency

Statement on future of RDAs

1 July 2010

As part of the Emergency Budget (22 June 2010), the government confirmed its intention to abolish all regional development agencies (RDAs) and replace them with Local Enterprise Partnerships.

A White Paper is expected to be published in the summer, providing further detail on future economic development arrangements and timescales for change.

Will Pope, chair of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), said:

“EEDA is proud of its achievements over the last ten years. We have played a pivotal role in improving the economy of the East of England, creating nearly 45,000 jobs, helping over 200,000 people to gain new skills, supporting hundreds of thousands of businesses to start-up, grow and improve, and attracting over £1 billion of further investment into the region.

“We are now in a time of change, and clearly there is a planning and transition period to work through. In the meantime, it’s business as usual. EEDA is an effective and efficient organisation and our performance has recently been independently evaluated by the National Audit Office – concluding that we are a strong-performing organisation.  

“This is a reflection not just of EEDA’s performance but how the region is working together effectively to improve the economy across the board. We will carry on delivering those strong results over the coming months, retaining a sharp focus on supporting local businesses, creating jobs and raising skills levels across the East of England.

“EEDA will continue to work with local authorities and businesses to plan for the future and ensure a smooth and professional transition to the new arrangements for economic development. The key is making that process as seamless for businesses as possible.”

As part of the Chancellor's recent £6.2 billion public cuts, regional development agencies have also been asked to make £293 million of savings this financial year (2010/11) equating to approximately 20 per cent of the RDA’s overall budget.

It has now been confirmed that EEDA’s budget will be reduced by £24.9 million (24 per cent of the 2010/11 budget).

Will Pope added:

“Although we recognise that the government has had to make some tough decisions to reduce the budget deficit, we are obviously disappointed to lose this investment in the East of England.

“It does mean that EEDA will have to make some difficult decisions on reducing, delaying and withdrawing funding from a range of projects. We will be notifying those projects affected by reductions over the next couple of weeks.”

“This is a setback for the East of England and we fully support the call from businesses for continued investment in a region that is leading the UK’s recovery from recession. EEDA will continue to work with partners to prioritise spending where it will have the greatest positive impact on the economy.”

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