A local enterprise partnership (LEP) that had funding restrictions slapped on it by the Government has approved transparency measures that go beyond national guidance.
The Leeds City Region LEP said its new constitution would make it the most transparent in the country after it took on board all of the recommendations of the Ney review, which called on the partnerships to publish their agendas, decisions, accounts and a rolling schedule of projects funded.
Ben Still, managing director of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the LEP’s accountable body, said: ‘Over the past 12 months and more, we have been working hard to ensure our organisation is fully up to the task of overseeing more than £2bn of taxpayer investment in new roads, rail stations, college facilities, regeneration projects, apprenticeships and support for business growth.
‘The measures approved by the LEP board today, and the fact that they go well above and beyond government recommendations, is another sign of our commitment to ensuring our organisation is transparent, open and accessible to the people of West Yorkshire and Leeds city region.
‘There are still further improvements we need to make as a relatively new organisation, learning from the past and guided by the helpful work of our overview and scrutiny committee, but I’m really pleased with our progress so far and proud of the difference we are making to our region’s economy.’
LEP chair Roger Marsh added: ‘As the LEP responsible for £1.2bn of taxpayer investment through the country’s largest Growth Deal, it is only right that we should be the most transparent LEP in the country as well.
‘I am delighted that, less than three months after the publication of the Ney report, we are not just fully in line with all of the best practice guidance Government has set out, but are in many ways exceeding it, leading the way for LEPs nationally.’