Government Offices work with the nine Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) on behalf of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).
More information on the national picture
SWRDA also promotes the region at home and overseas, and supports community regeneration. SWRDA is sponsored by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and is funded by BERR, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). SWRDA’s work is guided by the Regional Economic Strategy.
Sponsorship
Government Office for the South West sponsors SWRDA on behalf of BERR. This means that we support and monitor SWRDA performance on behalf of BERR and other Departments.
Government has set national targets for RDAs, and supplementary annual targets or milestones which measure progress towards the national targets. They include:
- Number of jobs created or safeguarded
- Job opportunities created as a result of foreign investment
- Number of new business start-ups
- Number of learning opportunities created
- Amount of brown field reclaimed
- Amount of private finance benefiting deprived areas.
The SWRDA Corporate Plan 2005-2008 provides more information about SWRDA activities and targets.
Board Appointments
SWRDA Board members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Opportunities to join the Board arise each year and are publicised nationally and regionally, and on the public appointments section of the DTI website.
The appointment process is designed to identify candidates with the right mix of qualities. We organise sift and interview panels, which are usually chaired by GOSW's Regional Director.
Regional Economic Strategy
All Regional Development Agencies publish a Regional Economic Strategy (RES).
The RES for the South West sets out clear priorities for improving regional economic performance, and identifies strategies for achieving them. The RES looks forward over a ten-year period and is reviewed every three years. The updated RES covering 2006-2015 was launched by the SW RDA on 25 May 2006. The RES document can be viewed or downloaded through the SWRDA website by following the link shown below.
Corporate Plan
SWRDA is required to prepare and submit a Corporate Plan for approval by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The plan explains how SWRDA will achieve its aims and objectives within its allocated budget, and sets out details of planned regional activities to meet key performance targets agreed with Government. Our role is to ensure that the plan is broadly in line with Government policies. The current Corporate Plan covers the period 2005-2008.
Monitoring and Evaluation
GOSW monitors SWRDA performance on behalf of BERR, and discusses performance with SWRDA regularly. GOSW is no longer required to do a formal half-yearly and annual report on SWRDA as this has been superceded by a three yearly Independent Performance Assessment (IPA) of the Agency by the National Audit Office (NAO). The SWRDA has had its first IPA this year and is currently awaiting the NAO's report. For more information on the IPA process click on the link below.
