LOCAL Enterprise Partnerships are being urged to put small businesses at the heart of plans for local economic growth.
A report by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) stresses that the voice of small businesses needs to be better represented within LEPs.
Two in five local authorities and two thirds of FSB representatives surveyed feel that large businesses exert the greatest influence over LEPs.
The research finds that many LEPs would be better placed to maximise local growth opportunities if they consulted more effectively with the small business community.
A case in point is around procurement support,with three quarters of small businesses wanting LEPs to offer procurement advice as part of their business support package, but only a quarter of LEPs are planning to offer this kind of service.
In order for LEPs to be held accountable to businesses and their local communities, the FSB is calling for a national framework for assessing their performance, which is not currently in place.
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