The South West RDA (South West of England Regional Development Agency) was set up by government in 1999 to lead the development of a sustainable economy in South West England, investing to unlock the region's business potential.
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The South West RDA’s work has been all about creating better jobs, successful businesses, more prosperous cities, towns and villages within an economy that uses less carbon now and into the future.
In recent years the South West RDA has helped the region’s economy respond to the economic downturn and chart a course for recovery.
The year 2010/11 saw the South West RDA deliver its largest ever spend in a single year, with £239 million invested in initiatives across South West England from our own funds and from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), in all benefiting over 500 live projects.
In June 2010, the coalition government confirmed that all eight RDAs across England would close by March 2012.
The South West RDA covers the following areas:
The head office is in Exeter city centre, with other offices in Bristol, Plymouth and Truro.
Each of England's 9 RDA's is required to work with partners in the region to draw together a Regional Economic Strategy. [1] This document sets out for the whole region how the RDAs statutory objectives would be met and the region developed. These strategies are owned by the whole region, not just the RDA. They provide the context for other economic development and regeneration activity in the region and provide government departments with a framework that sets out the direction that policies in the South West should support.
The South West RDA's plans are aligned with three strategic objectives:
The South West RDA has invested in and supported over 5,800 economic development projects, large and small, across the region during its lifetime. Significant examples include:
Wave Hub, the world’s largest ocean test site for marine renewable energy devices. The Eden Project, with over £1bn economic impact since opening in 2001. National Composites Centre, a world-class centre for composite material manufacture and design. Combined Universities in Cornwall, transforming higher education in Cornwall since 2001. Regional Infrastructure Fund, providing essential infrastructure across the region in places such as Poole, Taunton, east of Exeter and Bristol. Marine Skills Centres in Poole, Plymouth and Falmouth, delivering over 14,000 marine training courses. Osprey Quay, £38 million investment to revitalise a former Royal Navy air base – including bringing the Olympic sailing regatta to Weymouth and Portland. Airbus ‘Integrated Wing’ project, generating over 850 highly skilled jobs and £40 million added-value to the economy. PRIMARE and Plymouth Science and Innovation Programme, a £7.3 million investment for world-beating marine energy knowledge collaboration. Major urban regeneration investment in – among others - Bristol, Gloucester, Plymouth, Swindon and St Austell.
Figures published in 2010 showed that the South West RDA’s work had:
Created or safeguarded 43,600 jobs Helped start-up 3,100 new businesses Attracted £1.3 billion of additional public and private sector investment into the region. Provided 130,000 people with new work-related skills Through the regional Business Link network, helped over 100,000 businesses improve their performance and save over £220 million in costs.
Critics of the South West Regional Assembly and the South West RDA say they are unelected, unrepresentative and unaccountable "quangos", and the area covered is an artificially imposed large region and not natural.[1][2][3] This opinion is based upon geography, arguing that having the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall in the same region as Gloucestershire would be comparable to linking London with Yorkshire.[4] The feeling is strong with some residents of Cornwall, and there have been calls for a Cornish Development Agency from Cornish MPs Dan Rogerson and Andrew George along with the Cornish political party Mebyon Kernow.[5] On 19 July 2007 Dan Rogerson welcomed a government announcement that unelected Regional Assemblies are to be scrapped and he asked the government to look again at the case for a locally accountable Cornish Development agency, "in light of the important convergence funding from the EU”. Cornish MP Andrew George said in July 2007 I’m optimistic that the Minister’s announcement will give us the future prospects to build a strong consensus, demonstrate Cornwall’s distinctiveness from the Government zone for the South West and then draw up plans so that we can decide matters for ourselves locally rather than being told by unelected quangos in Bristol and elsewhere.”[6]
The South West Regional Development Agency has an annual budget of around £160 million and has spent almost £2 million opening offices as far away as Australia and China and has offices or representatives in five international cities. SWRDA admitted in 2008 that it has spent £1,871,829 on international offices and staff since 2005 - these include Boston in the US, Tokyo in Japan, Shenzhen in China, Melbourne in Australia and Mumbai in India. In the 2007-8 financial year, SWRDA also started an operation in Mumbai, which contributed to a total spend of £555,880.43. In March 2008 former Bristol Lord Mayor Peter Abraham criticised the SWRDA for these actions saying that it should be more publicly accountable.[7] The SWRDA was also criticised in December 2007 for spending more than £60,000 of taxpayers' money at a property trade show on the French Riviera, £61,000 on its annual staff conference in Wiltshire, plus £28,279 on another staff meeting last year in Torquay.
The South West Science and Industry Council advises the SWRDA on the effective use of science, technology and creativity. The SWRDA provides funding for the South West Observatory, a not-for-profit organisation which produces key data and facts about the region. Regen SW is is the renewable energy agency for South West England, mainly funded by SWRDA.
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