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Local Enterprise Partnerships

My honourable friend the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise (Mark Prisk) together with my right honourable friend the Minister of State for Decentralisation (Greg Clark) have today made the following Statement. I, together with Greg Clark, Minister of State for Decentralisation would like to inform the House that today we have written to the proposed Black Country, New Anglia (covering Norfolk and Suffolk), and Worcestershire local enterprise partnerships inviting them to put their governance arrangements in place. Local enterprise partnerships see a real power shift away from central Government and quangos and towards local communities and the local businesses who really understand the barriers to growth in their areas. This announcement brings the total number of partnerships so far invited to put their governance arrangements in place to 27. We will continue to work with other areas with a view to establishing further local enterprise partnerships across England.