LED Training module-4-lm-3
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Transcript of LED Training module-4-lm-3
Module 4 Learning Material 3 Local Economic Development Task Forces
1
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCES1
Task forces have increasingly emerged as a favored policy mechanism for developing andcoordinating local economic development efforts and programs in the United Kingdom. Whiletask forces should not be created to replace the activities of existing public and public-privateinstitutions, they can be used to strengthen the coordination and delivery of programs for localeconomic development. If a task force is to be established, it must be allowed to have sufficientscope and institutional strength to command new and additional resources. Key issues associatedwith the use of a task force as a policy mechanism include problems of coordination,accountability to local democratic institutions, legitimacy and transparency.
Task force aims and approaches are typically molded by their particular circumstances and bytheir membership. As task forces are often mobilized to address issues beyond the remit of anysingle organization, membership often brings representatives from an array of selected economicdevelopment organizations involved in the area.
A primary objective for the leading agency partners is to decide upon membership and draw upthe terms of reference. While inclusive of relevant interests, membership should be limited toallow for operation and implementation in an effective and expedient manner. Task forces canutilize working sub-groups, whose membership can be varied and sometimes broadened, toaddress specific issues.
Task forces addressing industrial closures or sectoral restructuring usually keep their objectivesflexible in order to respond rapidly to unfolding situations. Those operating in a more sectoral orterritorial setting usually work with more formalized and longer term objectives. Task forces arerarely directly funded, usually receiving funding by members ‘bending’ or coordinating theirmainstream program budgets.
An LED task force can add value to the institutional process by gathering the relevant individualsand organizations around the table to focus on a particular issue. LED task forces may provide acoordinating organization capable of mobilizing and involving the relevant individuals andorganizations with the appropriate expertise to address particular economic development concernsin a timely fashion. Their establishment can provide an adaptable focus for activity and thematching of local regional, national and donor funding support.
1 Source: Pike, A. (no date) Task Forces and The Organisation of Economic Development: The Case of
The North East Region of England , DP No. 02/3, CURDS Discussion Papers, Centre for Urban andRegional Development Studies, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. Available to view at:
http://www.campus.ncl.ac.uk/unbs/hylife2/lib/files/4754dp022.pdf