Local and Regional Economic Development: Renegotiating Power Under Labour Routledge Revivals Series

This title was first published in 2000. Since New Labour were elected in 1997, there have been substantial changes made to local and regional economic development policy in the UK. This volume offers an up-to-date overview, setting the new policies within a wider historic context and suggesting future developments. It examines four of these new policies in depth - Regional Development Agencies, New Deal local partnerships, Local Learning and Skills Councils, and the Small Business Service and Business link. In doing so, it offers a critical appraisal of how effective these changes have been in tackling issues such as developing human resources, skills and opportunities, developing land infrastructure and sites, capital formation and development, encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship and technological change and enhancing a supportive institutional context.

Contents: Renegotiating local and regional economic development. Power Relations: Agents and power in the local and regional economy; Interpreting Labour’s local and regional economic policy objectives; The negotiation process. Case Studies: Regional development agencies; New deal; Local learning skills councils and the TECs; The small business service and business link initiative. Unfinished Revolution?: Power-relations under Labour; Unblocking change: a future agenda; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.

Robert J. Bennett, University of Cambridge, UK Diane Payne, University College Dublin, Ireland