Annabel Lambert writes:
The Chancellor has delivered his Autumn Statement for the fourth consecutive year. The environment was mentioned in passing, but we’re far from the long-term vision we’d hoped for here.
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs, if you'll excuse the acronym) illustrate how the Government’s continuing failure to marry economic growth with nature is affecting sustainable development at a local level.
There are 39 LEPs in England, formed in 2011 to promote local economic growth. They are partnerships between local authority and business leaders and are responsible for a significant chunk of money. In last year’s Autumn Statement, the Government gave them the responsibility to decide how £5.3 billion European Structural and Investment Funds for 2014/20 will be spent in their local area.
That money, if it was deployed strategically, could create better places for people to live, work and do business. Under current arrangements, there is considerable scope to support investment in the protection and enhancement of our natural assets - including the restoration of freshwater and terrestrial habitats - and in flood and coastal risk management measures. So how have the funds been allocated so far?
We’ve been reviewing the LEPs' draft investment strategies. There are some positive examples of LEPs addressing environmental issues and investing in the natural environment within their areas. We’ll be looking at these more closely in the coming weeks. However, they are a minority. Less than 4% of the multi-billion pot is currently being allocated to measures to protect and enhance the natural environment and adapt to climate change. This is very disappointing, particularly given the current short-fall in funding for the natural environment.
Overall, LEPs are failing to recognise the value that a healthy natural environment brings to the long-term economic competitiveness of their area. They also demonstrate a lack of understanding of the environmental challenges and opportunities within their area and the effect these would have on their plans for growth. This is particularly concerning. Unless planning for the natural environment and economic development is properly integrated, pressures on wildlife and our special places will continue to increase. Finally, how credible is a growth strategy that fails to address or is likely to exacerbate environmental issues affecting the local economy and wellbeing of communities?
LEPs are not entirely to blame for this. They’ve been under considerable pressure from Government to produce their plans in unrealistically short timescales. The Government issued its detailed guidance only a couple of months before LEPs were due to complete their draft strategies. But the biggest barrier so far has been the lack of coherent cross-government guidance to help LEPs plan and deliver economic development in harmony with nature in their area.