Annoying the government new page on the launch of the strategies doesn’t contain a link to the startegies, I started making a page but then discovered the government has set out an unlinked page !!!!
What this does show is that the Arc, from the governments perspective is divided into four
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- Oxfordshire
- the South East Midlands
So where is the South East Midlands – Its Bucks and Northants, and used to include Cherwell before it pulled out. So in terms of data and policy Bucks is covered twice. With both Nortants and Bucks going unitary a simple county split might seem on the cards however MK wants a foot in both camps/
Cambridge and Peterborough no longer has a LEP so BIS published it on iots own site, which shows how well the Combined Authority (especially its Mayor) who took over responsibility is trusted in central government circles.
So some progress on governance has been made, especially as the original NIC report prioritised, in its central section, but its still slow moving and in all areas something of a slow motion car crash – as you can see in the Oxfordshire Growth board machinations and the disagreements between the Greater Cambridge Partnership and the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority. Until this settles down there will be no serious proposals for new strategic growth locations out to 2050 anywhere in the Arc.
BIS is to be congratulated though on publishing the first set of sub-regional policies in a consistent format across the arc. Of course it funds the LEP network. MCHLG has produced nothing but hot air. BIS was supposed to be the end of BIS running everything through regional development agencies. THE LIS process has been one of them taking back control. Lets see which way Liz Truss lets them develop (I suspect she will cut all their funding to zero).
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions 