EAST MIDLANDS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY 2

Milan Radulovic, leader of Broxtowe District Council, called for the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) to be scrapped and said EMDA's administrative costs are too high and its decision making is not transparent. However, EMDA leaders argue it is fully accountable and scrutinised by both Parliament and East Midlands Assembly.

Chief executive, Jeff Moore, said the agency created or safeguarded 8,193 jobs in 2005 and added, "It is our responsibility to cut through the labyrinth of bureaucracy. I suspect Councillor Radulovic's argument is with the government for the reporting regime it created rather than with the regional development agency itself."

Councillor Radulovic said, "I don't call for the legitimacy of EMDA. I call for its abolition. It's not achieved its objectives and as far as I'm concerned it takes vital resources away from local industry and commerce." The government is moving to give regional quangos more power.

In 2007, the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) will give regional development agencies the job of overseeing and funding a new programme to support economic development in rural areas. Simon Fisher of the National Farmers Union, said he thinks EMDA would make a better job of helping farmers than Defra. (Source: BBC News, Oct/06)

East Midlands Development Agency bosses have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds paying consultants in Australia, Japan, India, Germany, Singapore, Sweden and the United States. EMDA contracted consultants worldwide to work for them to help attract foreign investment and said it had had many successes in attracting jobs to the area. The costs to maintain these staff per year were at least £130,000.

The total amount is believed to be much more, as the cost of the other consultants could not be quantified because they are jointly-employed by EMDA and its partner for regenerating the West Midlands, Advantage West Midlands. David Wallace, the international director of EMDA, said, "These overseas contractors are so important, to tell foreign companies what a great place our region is in which to invest." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/06)

The work of the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) has been criticised in a report from an organisation which has scrutinised its activities. "Could do better" is the message from the East Midlands Regional Assembly.

After the first of a series of 'scrutinies' into the organisation's performance, the assembly concluded that there were areas in which EMDA was not doing enough to ensure business survival in the region.

It has drawn up a 12-point list of recommendations that it expects EMDA, a Government-funded body set up to help businesses, to adopt. EMDA, says the report, should clarify the relationship between business start-ups and output and have a more structured approach for simultaneously dealing with areas of economic efficiency and socio-economic deprivation in the region.

It said that EMDA should place more emphasis on business sustainability than it does on start-up rates. It added that EMDA's strategy for creating new businesses should be 'client-led rather than supplier-driven' and that there should be 'more regional co-ordination of business support'.

The report also said that 'organisations would benefit from longer funding commitments from EMDA' and that 'EMDA should develop strong links with schools and appropriate institutions'.

Martin Traynor, chairman of the assembly's regional scrutiny board, said that part of the problem was that 'if you want to start up a business, there are numerous agencies you can go to for advice' and EMDA should be co-ordinating them. "There is more strategic involvement needed," he said.

He added that the situation would be reviewed in six months to see which recommendations EMDA had adopted already and which were due to be implemented. The assembly does not, however, have the power to force EMDA to adopt any of its recommendations.

Mr Traynor said, "I don't think EMDA is doing any one thing in particular wrongly, it just needs better organisation." Ian Harrison, a spokesman for EMDA, said that the findings were 'logic positive', by which he meant that it was being taken as positive criticism. "The assembly is acting in the role of a critical friend and helping us to direct our resources towards a common goal," he said. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) hopes a £1m light show in the Market Place will bring tourists flocking to the city. Emda has spent £200,000 on the equipment needed for the display, which will see the shadows of people walking through Derby's Market Place projected onto a giant screen containing colour images of 1,000 people from across the region. A further £285,000 will be spent on transport and staging for the show.

An Emda spokesman said, "This exhibition will be something that both visitors and local communities can enjoy and learn from, and will greatly enrich our cultural quarters. Public reaction is, of course, important but the most important indicator will be economic. We'll evaluate how this exhibition has raised the standing of our creative industries internationally and whether it has generated new business opportunities for those industries."

Leader of Derby City Council Chris Williamson said, "They're not asking for money from the city council so there will not be any contributions from council taxpayers. If this is going to promote the city and the region as a whole then it's something to be applauded, particularly if it results in bringing people in to the city. It's a bold and brave step." Fourteen computerised sensors will pick up people as they walk past and project images of them in their shadows on the screen. Presumably this will not invade current privacy laws.

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