The end of Pan-Regional Partnership (PRP) funding – What’s next?
For those who also missed this announcement, the government confirmed last week that it will end core funding for Pan-Regional Partnerships, with the exception of the Great South West which will receive temporary funding for 2025/26.
As hinted in the English Devolution Paper published in December, PRP functions will be transferred to:
Mayors – collaborating at pan-regional level
Regional convening bodies – working with existing regional organisations like Sub-National Transport Bodies.
So, it looks as though there will be some form of pan-regional strategic collaboration, but perhaps without the organisational/governance structure as previously seen. I’m assuming there are more details to come on all of this, but some initial thoughts include:
- Will collaboration be statutory or voluntary? Is the Great North group of Mayors the best practice example?
- How will the new approach deal with competing dynamics of economic geography vs administrative convenience?
- Who will be responsible for delivery of pan-regional objectives? Will Strategic Authorities be given additional funding to support this?
- How will economic and industry priorities be decided? i.e. UK Government or locally driven?
- How will areas without Mayors be effectively represented?
- Will these arrangements enable continued cross border working in areas such as the Western Gateway?
The next few years will undoubtedly bring a period of change as multiple layers of administrative reorganisation work through the scheme. How this will contribute to the Government’s economic growth agenda in the short term remains uncertain.
