“In an April 2013 interview Business Secretary Vince Cable argued that big decisions on funding must be administered from Whitehall on the basis that some LEPs had very small numbers of business people on their boards and were not publicly accountable and unsuited to manage large amounts of public money.” …

Prior to the 2015 election, Labour stated if elected they would retain LEPs, stating they would work to “improve LEPs, not abolish them” while outlining concerns over their “accountability and capacity to deliver.” …

“Professor Bob Bennett, a Cambridge academic specialising in economic geography has said that there is a “danger that (LEPs) require too much effort, for too little return” and that more than “£2 billion needs to be invested in LEPs and Enterprise Zones in order to stimulate growth and jobs around the UK”.36 Similarly, a report by the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies at the University of Newcastle argues LEPs will struggle to exercise substantive influence upon local economic growth on account of “the lack of long-term vision and strategy for their strategic development.”
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“The Interim Government response was published in July 2013. While acknowledging the role LEPs play in regional economic growth, it raised concerns over their accountability. In turn, it recommended a single BIS Minister be made responsible and accountable for LEPs and that LEPs should have a single point of contact within the Department and LEPs’ objective setting processes are monitored to ensure they remain fit for purpose and have the capability to access future funding.” …

“In December 2013, The National Audit Office published a report titled Funding and structures for local economic growth, examining how effective the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have been in supporting economic growth and providing value for money. The report states it has not yet been demonstrated that Local Enterprise Partnerships “are capable of delivering value for money.” Quoting evidence complied by BIS, the report states that of the 39 LEPs, seventeen made a strong case that they represent a functional economic area, sixteen made a plausible case, four made a weak case and no information was held on the remaining two.

The report states different LEPs have made progress at different rates. Areas of concern include weaknesses in leadership, changes in board membership, not taking advantage of available funding and insufficient administrative capacity.