I've been in Birmingham and Hull recently, discussing their economic future and the role of local enterprise partnerships. And I've had meetings with BIS officials and Treasury minister Justine Greening. A clearer picture is now starting to emerge on LEPs - and the Regional Growth Fund...

First, there's a lot of interest in LEPs - their powers, funding, and especially what areas they will cover. Birmingham is actively considering an area that includes the Black Country and Solihull. Hull is working towards an alliance with the East Riding, along the north bank of the Humber.

Discussions are live in every other part of England - including whether Yorkshire & Humber should split into 4, the North West into 6, and the South East into more. Some places, like Barnsley and York, are working out whether they can be in more than one LEP. (We think they can)

Vince Cable's department, meanwhile, is hoping for as few LEPs as possible. Understandable, really. Eric Pickles loves localism, but BIS doesn't want to deal with loads of tiny little LEPs - they'd rather see a moderate number of strategic ones, based on genuine travel-to-work areas. (We agree)

Leadership of LEPs is a big issue. We think they should be led by council leaders, with genuine business involvement. "Business-led" sounds great, but we don't want LEPs to get into the same difficulty as RDAs - which were business-led, but took on so many functions that their accountability was called into question.

There's a big risk that LEPs get bogged down in governance stuff - who chairs them, who sits on the board, all that kind of thing. Jerry Blackett (CEO, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce) got it right at our event last week, when he urged us to focus on the opportunities created by LEPs - to deliver existing programmes better - training programmes that employers want, buses that connect people to jobs, and housing that people need.

The deadline for LEP proposals is 6 September. It's clear that some LEP areas are more oven-ready than others. Greater Manchester will no doubt be front of the queue, asking (and getting) more than most other areas. That suggests LEPs will proceed at different speeds - which is fine with us.

I understand that consultation on the Regional Growth Fund - £1bn over two years, starting April 2011 - will begin quite soon. We'll be publishing advice for cities on that soon.