Module 4 Learning Material 3

Local Economic Development Task Forces

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCES1

Task forces have increasingly emerged as a favored policy mechanism for developing and coordinating local economic development efforts and programs in the United Kingdom. While task forces should not be created to replace the activities of existing public and public -private institutions, they can be used to strengthen the coordination and delivery of programs for local economic development. If a task force is to be established, it must be allowed to have sufficient scope and institutional strength to command new and additional resources. Key issues associated with 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 by their membership. As task forces are often mobilized to address issues beyond the remit of any single organization, membership often brings representatives from an array of selected economic development organizations involved in the area. A primary objective for the leading agency partners is to decide upon membership and draw up the terms of reference. While inclusive of relevant interests, membership should be limited to allow for operation and implementation in an effective and expedient manner. Task forces can utilize working sub-groups, whose membership can be varied and sometimes broadened, to address specific issues. Task forces addressing industrial closures or sectoral restructuring usually keep their objectives flexible in order to respond rapidly to unfolding situations. Those operating in a more sectoral or territorial setting usually work with more formalized and longer term objectives. Task forces are rarely directly funded, usually receiving funding by members bending or coordinating their mainstream program budgets. An LED task force can add value to the institutional process by gathering the relevant individuals and organizations around the table to focus on a particular issue. LED task forces may provide a coordinating organization capable of mobilizing and involving the relevant individuals and organizations with the appropriate expertise to address particular economic development concerns in a timely fashion. Their establishment can provide an adaptable focus for activity and the matching of local regional, national and donor funding support.

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 and Regional Development Studies, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. Available to view at: http://www.campus.ncl.ac.uk/unbs/hylife2/lib/files/4754dp022.pdf