The new UK Government has published its program today and there are several references to the future of local and regional government. Under the heading 'Business' it is said that Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will be replaced by Local Enterprise Partnerships. Further down, under 'Communities and Local Government' the new powers of local government and communities are established.
It is to a great extent what the Conservative party had been announing it would do all along, so there aren't really a lot of surprises. One of the big questions however was what was going to happen to the RDAs in places such as the North East. I don't think this document really clarifies much, although it does mention that the Partnerships "may take the form of the existing RDAs in areas where they are popular." We'll have to wait for more details.
