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Frequently asked questions

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is one of 38 LEPs across the country. It was formed in 2011 as a partnership between businesses, local authorities and the education sector. Its aim is to enable economic growth and job creation in the local area. The South East LEP is the largest LEP in the country, covering East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock.

The LEP is run by a board. The board is made up of leaders from businesses, education and local authorities who meet quarterly. You can find out more information on board meetings here, and find out who sits on our boards here.

The LEP operates a federated model of operation, offering local and relevant input to all decisions made by the South East LEP. The federated model is supported by: Success Essex, Kent and Medway Economic Partnership, Opportunity South Essex and Team East Sussex. You can find out more information on our Federated Boards here.

We publish Declarations of Interests for each board member which are reviewed annually. Declarations of Interests are announced and recorded in the minutes of the quarterly Strategic Board meetings. All declarations are managed in line with the Terms of Reference and Conflicts of Interest policy. You can find out more more information on our policies here.

The South East LEP’s decision-making panel, the Accountability Board, is made up of members across the lead Local Authorities within the South East LEP area, forming a Joint Committee structure. You can find out more information on the Accountability Board here.

Each Strategic Board member and their alternate are required to annually update their Declarations of Interests. Within each Strategic Board meeting, any conflicts of interests are declared when the meeting opens. Should an agenda item conflict with a Strategic Board member or alternate, they are required to abstain from discussions and voting. Further information on SELEP’s Register of Interest Policy is available here.

The South East LEP’s federated model enables projects of local importance to be prioritised and designated as a priority. Funding sought for through the LEP is done through a competitive process.

There have been three rounds of Local Growth Funding, which funds selected projects up to 2021. £590.85 million of funding has been awarded to the South East LEP which will support the delivery of:

  • 78,000 jobs by 2021
  • 29,000 new homes by 2021

All funding opportunities have individual criteria and each application is assessed against this. Assessment of projects is undertaken by the Independent Technical Evaluator, Steer Davies Gleeve. All assessments are made in line with the Government’s Green Paper. Where funding opportunities are being made on a smaller scale, through LEP funds, a funding panel will approve funding through a competitive process.

For further information on specific funding, email hello@southeastlep.com

Public questions can be asked at the South East LEP’s Accountability Board meetings. All questions a member of the public wishes to ask must be sent to hello@southeastlep.com by no later than 10:30am, seven days before the meeting.

You can find further information on SELEP’s policy for public questions to the Accountability Board here.

If you would like to be involved with the South East LEP, you should initially contact your local federated area. Each area has individual recruitment processes.

There are a number of South East LEP working groups that may also be of interest. You can find more information on the South East LEP’s working groups here.

If you would like support to start or grow a business, the South East LEP offers free and impartial support to businesses via the telephone, email and face to face. Get in touch with your local Growth Hub and find out more.

If you have a complaint to make to the South East LEP, these should be sent to hello@southeastlep.com. We will be in contact within 10 clear working days to acknowledge the complaint and respond within 28 clear working days.

You can find further information on our Confidential Reporting of Complaints Policy here.