Regional Development Agencies

In the United Kingdom, regional development agencies (RDAs) were nine non-departmental public bodies established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of England's Government Office regions between 1998 and 2010. There was one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England. Similar activities were carried out in Wales by the Welsh Government Department of Economy and Transport, in Northern Ireland by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and in Scotland by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

In June 2010 the UK government announced the abolition of the RDAs which took place on 31 March 2012, with a view to reducing the government deficit and similar economic development being undertaken by local councils and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs). There was no direct replacement for the RDAs as LEPs did not at first receive funding from central government, and local councils did not receive an equivalent injection of income from central funds, having been called upon to make savings and support similar initiatives.

Eight RDAs were created on 25 November 1998 following the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998, and had their scope and powers enhanced in the years afterwards such as by its second commencement order (in respect of London on 3 July 2000). The statutory objectives of the RDAs were:

They took over responsibility from Government Offices for administering European Union regional development funds.

The RDAs were funded from HM Treasury via six different central government departments:

The funding from these departments was pooled, and then allocated to the different RDAs. The total funding known as the 'Single Pot' was as below.

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