Yorkshire Forward is the Regional Development Agency (RDA) of Yorkshire and the Humber. RDAs are non-departmental public bodies, their role being strategic drivers of regional economic development. Yorkshire Forward are scrutinised by the Regional Assembly.
Their core business is to produce and deliver the Regional Economic Strategy (RES).
The RES provides a framework for:
- attracting inward investment
- supporting the needs of business
- promoting the region including the development of tourism
- improving the environment and the achievement of sustainable development through the integration of economic, social and environmental activities.
Implementation of the RES is currently achieved through the development of a series of sub regional investment plans which set out key actions in each sub region (West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and the Humber) to be funded through Yorkshire Forward’s funds, known as the Single Pot, and other public sector funding.
Yorkshire Forward has agreed to move towards a city region based structure for this funding from 2009.
For further information see the Yorkshire Forward website.
Future Developments
In 2007 the Government published its Review of Sub National Economic Development and Regeneration (SNR). This will see a move to integrated regional strategies which set out the economic, social and environmental objectives for the region.
Under the proposals regional assemblies will cease to exist in their present form and responsibility for producing the new strategy will pass to a revised regional development agency working in conjunction with local authorities and city region and sub regional partnerships as appropriate.
Work to develop those new arrangements and to provide appropriate democratic scrutiny of future regional arrangements is currently under discussion. A consultation paper on the implementation of the SNR was published by Government on 31 March 2008.