An iinvestigation conducted by the Taxpayers’ Alliance shows the economic performance of the areas Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) work in has failed to improve and in some cases even slowed down, despite spending over £15 billion on the scheme.

“RDAs have failed in their core mission to narrow the gap between the economic performance of England’s regions,” said Ben Farrugia, policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

On employment, for instance, growth in jobs and the number of people in work slowed since RDAs were set up in 1999. Between 1995 and 2000 the number of jobs in England increased by 9.5 per cent, while between 2000 and 2005 it increased by three per cent.

You can download a PDF of the full report here

But economics correspondent Daniel Barnes, editor of myfinances.co.uk said the findings had to be treated with caution.

“RDAs are massive and unaccountable spending machines, leaking money top, right and centre,” he told politics.co.uk.

Regional Newspapers across the country are reporting on the cost of their RDA’s. Two examples of such reports are linked below :

Western Morning News - South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA)

Brighton Argus - South Eastern England Development Agency (SEEDA)