Advantage West Midlands
Advantage West Midlands was established in 1999 as one of nine regional development agencies (RDAs) in England. RDAs were created by the UK Government to drive sustainable economic development and social and physical regeneration through a business-led approach. Operating at arm's length from government, RDAs had business-led Boards that were appointed by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Advantage West Midlands was closed on 31 March 2012 as part of the wider closure of the RDA network. Investment. Between 1999 and 2012 Advantage West Midlands invested £3 billion to support  sustainable economic development in the West Midlands region, generating a range of outputs including: (The above outputs are based on Government-defined measures. Each RDA reported performance against these measures in their Annual Report and Accounts.) The Government also commissioned independent evaluation and assessments of RDA performance. In addition to Government-commissioned evaluations or assessments – and as part of its own continuous improvement programme – from 2007 Advantage West Midlands participated in the annual "Midlands Excellence Awards," with the following results: Key regional projects. Projects enabled with investment from Advantage West Midlands include: The Agency also led the region's response  to major economic shocks such as the sale of MG Rover in 2000 and its subsequent closure in 2005, the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 2001, the 2007 Floods and the global economic recession that struck in 2009. The RDA Act. Advantage West Midlands was established by the UK Government (Labour administration: 1997 – 2010) under the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. The Act set out the five statutory purposes for England's RDAs: To fulfil these goals, RDAs used economic data and analysis to develop Regional Economic Strategies, invested their resources to deliver their share of the strategy and influenced  partner organisations to do likewise. Changing Government approach to economic development. In June 2010, the new Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition Government announced that it would pursue a different approach to economic development. This new approach would work at a smaller geographical scale than regions – and reflecting the administration's "Localism" agenda. At the same time, it was announced that all RDAs, including Advantage West Midlands, would close down by March 2012. Responsibility for economic development in England would pass to successor bodies, including Government departments, other national agencies and newly created Local enterprise partnerships. Geographical Coverage. The West Midlands comprises  the counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire; the unitary authorities of Herefordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Telford and Wrekin; and the seven metropolitan districts of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.