Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 5 September 2011.
LEPs are a partnership between local authorities and business, and we will be encouraging, though we will not be prescribing, local authorities to pool the business rates. I know that a number of authorities around Greater Manchester, west Yorkshire and particularly London are actively considering pooling arrangements, which has the advantage that poorer areas can benefit from richer areas.