Two local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) in Yorkshire have approved plans to merge and create a new business-led body.
The Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership and York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership look set to create a single LEP covering a population of 3.1 million people and an economy worth £70.3bn.
The proposal was put forward following the government’s LEP review to remove overlaps between existing LEP geographies.
The chairs of the two existing LEPs – Roger Marsh chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership and David Kerfoot chair of the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership – said: ‘Our respective LEPs have achieved a great deal over the past seven years, from putting in place nationally acclaimed rural business support schemes to securing major investment for new transport and broadband infrastructure.
‘Now we have an opportunity to do even more for the rural, coastal and urban communities we represent, by bringing together elements of our existing LEP geographies into a combined engine for extraordinary economic growth that will enable all parts of our region to prosper.’
The new LEP is expected to be in place by April 2020.
