Regional development agency

In the United Kingdom, regional development agencies (RDAs) were nine non-departmental public bodies established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of England's Government Office regions between 1998 and 2010. There was one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England. Similar activities were carried out in Wales by the Welsh Government Department of Economy and Transport, in Northern Ireland by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and in Scotland by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

In June 2010 the UK government announced the abolition of the RDAs which took place on 31 March 2012, with a view to reducing the government deficit; similar economic development would be undertaken by local councils and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).[1] There was no direct replacement for the RDAs as LEPs did not at first receive funding from central government, and local councils did not receive an equivalent injection of income from central funds, having been called upon to make savings and support similar initiatives.[2]

  1. ^ "Fears Over Cumbria Funding as Northwest Development Agency Faces Chop Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine", Times & Star, 17 June 2010, retrieved 2010-06-19
  2. ^ "Local Enterprise Partnership Capacity Fund". Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 November 2011.