Good news on the RDAs

It’s always worth delving into the Budget to find things that slip under the radar. A quick scan through the document this afternoon for information on the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) threw up something worthwhile: they are to be abolished through the Public Bodies Bill, for which a White Paper will be produced later this year. Of course, we will be keeping a close eye on it to ensure that this Budget promise is not reneged on or fudged in any way.

This is a real win for the TPA, as we have called for their abolition for some years now. We produced a paper in 2008 which outlined a strong case for this, and followed that up at the weekend with research showing how most of their grants go to the public sector. They have not corrected the regional disparities that they were supposed to. Indeed, our research showed that that they’ve actually increased under the RDAs’ watch.

Of course, it remains to be seen what shape ‘Local Enterprise Partnerships’ will take – but the removal of these unelected and unaccountable quangos is a huge step in the right direction. Combined with a sustained decrease in corporation tax it could help breed private sector-led growth that will boost jobs and wealth.