Talks on asset relocation begin
Dienstag, 24 August 2010
With regional development agencies (RDAs) set to be abolished by 2012, negotiations have begun regarding the distribution of £50 million of Yorkshire Forward's assets back into the region.
The talks aim at dividing the assets among the developing local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and prevent any attempts from ministers to acquire them.
Council leaders have received a list of Yorkshire Forward assets, which include a wide range of property interests from the leasehold to Barnsley Metropolitan Centre worth more than £11 million to a fish and chip shop in Scarborough estimated at around £100,000.
There has been no comment from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on the future of the assets of regional development agencies after 2012, when they will be replaced by a network of LEPs led jointly by business and councils.
A committee of Yorkshire council chief executives led by Yorkshire Forward chief executive Thea Stein will oversee the transition from the RDA to LEPs, including the transfer of assets.
Andrew Waller, leader of City of York Council, said: "A lot of these assets are actually regeneration projects so they were bought with a purpose in mind. We want to make the case for regeneration assets to be retained under local control. If we don't make the case then who will?"
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