Coornwall & Isles of Scilly LEP - Slow out of the blocks

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership became a reality some 18 months ago.

In that time just one job seems to have been created - the £20,000 pa part time position of chairman Chris Pomfret. This despite a "small" Secretariat budget of some £250,000 being allocated to the LEP during the year.

The long awaited LEP masterplan which was promised for last month is now being promised for the end of June.

Draft LEP target:

By 2020, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s GDP per head will be above the 75% average for the
European Union. By 2020 we will have exceeded the expected growth of the overall Cornwall and
Isles of Scilly economy by an additional £380 million or 4.5%.

I sincerely hope that this target is achieved - but 8 years is a long time off. Who will remember this target in 8 years time? Will the LEP still exist?

I'm all for long term planning but a long term plan needs a series of shorter term, measurable steps to show that the overall plan is on course. How can anyone objectively evaluate how well the LEP is doing unless we have a series of 'SMART' markers that it is prepared to set down for itself.

Given the record of just one job in eighteen months, you will have to forgive me if my breath is not bated while I wait for more concrete results.