Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

City Enterprise Boards with county/ city councils. This would offer a number
of particular advantages, including:
• There is a strong relationship between both local authorities and the
CEBs since their establishment in the early 1990s. County/ city
councils set them up initially and staffed them. They continue to play a
strong role in their operation and direction. A number of councillors, as
well as the county/ city manager or his/ her nominee sit on the Board.
Local authorities are therefore, already key actors in the operation of
CEBs and also played a central role in their formative years;
• The business support role of the CEBs would fit well with both the
wider economic development brief of local authorities, as well as the
support arrangements recently put in place by all county/ city councils
to support enterprise (such as Business Support Units to act as a point
of contact to ensure a quick, coordinated response to businesses from
local authorities in areas such as planning, water and roads, and CDB
Economic Sub-Committees to support the co-ordination of economic
development and promotion in the local area);
• CEBs operate under procedures and systems similar to other public
bodies, which generally mirror local government systems such as
financial accounting/ management systems. Sustaining these
administrative arrangements carries significant overheads, especially
for relatively small organisations such as CEBs. Efficiency savings
would be achieved if these and other overheads were transferred to
and carried out by local authorities. This in turn would allow a greater
proportion of CEB budgets to be spent on the primary mission of the
Boards, namely enterprise supports, rather than administrative
overheads;
• As part of their operation, there is a regular need for information
exchange and interaction between CEBs and local authorities,
especially in latter’s role as planning and sanitary authorities – this
includes ensuring that CEB clients comply with planning and
environmental requirements. This would be streamlined through the
integration of CEBs and local authorities;
• The continuing involvement of other CEB members/ sectors on the
Board of CEBs could be ensured by way of committees established
under the local authority or under the aegis of the County/ City
Development Board (on which the CEBs are represented).
12.3.3 The integration of the County/ City Enterprise Boards with county/ city
councils would result in a greater re-alignment of local economic
development and supports to businesses, and a saving on administrative
overheads incurred by the Boards in their present form.
12.3.4 The Group, therefore, considers that County/ City Enterprise Boards should
be integrated within their respective county/ city local authorities. The
rationalisation of CEB structures would also take account of the proposed
joint administrative areas (see section 6.4), resulting in a corresponding
reduction in the number of CEBs.
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