Economy National: the National Picture

Delivering improvements in regional economic performance, in both rural and urban areas, is the joint responsibility of the Communities and Local Government, the Department for Trade and Industry (predecessor to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) and HM Treasury. All three departments share a common goal to make sustainable improvements in the economic performance of all English regions by 2008. Over the long term, they aim to reduce the persistent gap in growth rates between the regions, demonstrating progress by 2006.

GOs play an important role in achieving this goal on behalf of these departments, providing feedback from regional businesses and other key regional partners on proposed Government policies.

In 2003, GOs worked with Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and Regional Assemblies to develop ‘Regional Emphasis Documents’ that set out spending priorities for the regions in advance of the 2004 Spending Review.

Over the next few years, the GO network will play an important role in developing and implementing policies to meet this goal, assisting regional and local partnerships and initiatives to join up and work on a range of government agendas.
GOs also provide impartial reporting on the effectiveness of RDAs, and help to maximise their impact on regional economic performance.