REGIONAL growth bodies face overhaul as Labour aims to stop the region being “kidded” by the Coalition Government, a senior minister has claimed.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said the region’s two local enterprise partnerships (Leps) will be reformed to strengthen local decision makers’ powers, if Labour triumphs at the General Election.

He also said Chancellor George Osborne’s vision of a Northern Powerhouse was too skewed to the North-West and ignores North-East business strengths.

The region has two Leps; the North East Lep, which focuses on job creation and regeneration in the north of the region, and Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU), which does the same in the south.

However, Mr Balls said Labour wanted to amend “stupid” Government mistakes, highlighting its move to axe regional development agency One North East in favour of Leps.

The Coalition introduced Leps to replace One North East, which officially ceased operations three years ago, but fears have been raised over a divide between the two organisations.

TVU bosses said they didn’t want to comment on Mr Balls’ plans when approached, though North East Lep chairman Paul Woolston last year told The Northern Echo his personal view was to have one Lep for the entire region.

Mr Balls said Labour would allow people to decide if they wanted to retain the existing structure or preferred reverting back to one overarching agency.

He said: “At the moment, the Leps are trying their best, but far too much is dictated in Westminster.

“We will work with what we have and make it better.

“To get rid of One North East was stupid.

“It is up to the North-East; if two Leps is what people want, that’s fine.

“They have to have more clout and should not have to jump to Westminster’s tune.”

Mr Balls said any changes would be delivered through Labour’s economic battle plan, titled A Better Plan for Britain’s Prosperity, which claims it will devolve at least £30bn of cash into the region over five years.

He also said it would focus on recommendations highlighted in the North East Lep’s Adonis Review, and create more combined authorities to tackle problems over skills and infrastructure.

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Balls also criticised Mr Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse for a lack of North-East focus, saying it was slanted too much towards Manchester.

The Lancashire city is due to get an elected mayor to hand more control over public spending, which is hoped will deliver more jobs and investment.

But Mr Balls said: “When George Osborne and David Cameron they talk about the Northern Powerhouse, people in the North-East will just say, ‘who are you trying to kid?’

“Mr Osborne is a North-West MP, but the manufacturing strength is here in the North-East and in Yorkshire as much as it is in the North-West.

“Obviously we want Manchester to do well, but we really want Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Stockton and all the other cities and towns in this region do well too.

“We are not going to say that to have proper devolution you have to have an elected mayor.

“But what Mr Osborne seems to say is that if you don’t have a mayor, you’ll get a second-class deal.

“I don’t want to see the North-East short-changed in any way.”

However, speaking to The Northern Echo in December, Mr Osborne said the region was pivotal to his plans.

He cited £290m road-building plans, which include dualling the A1 to within 25 miles of the Scottish border, and a new National Formulation Centre at NetPark, in Sedgefield, County Durham, which is expected to develop breakthrough medical treatments, and lubricants capable of making engines run faster, as examples.

Mr Osborne added: “The North-East is absolutely important to the Northern Powerhouse.

“London dominates more and more, and that is not healthy for our economy.

“There are lots of examples of the Government backing the North-East and backing jobs here.

“People can see with their own eyes the job that we are doing and how unemployment is coming down.

“There is more work than there used to be and we are making sure the region gets our support.

“We need a Northern Powerhouse to provide more jobs and opportunities.”

The regions Leps:

The North East Lep previously unveiled plans to create up to 100,000 jobs and aims to help the area support more than one million posts by 2024.

Its plan, called More and Better Jobs: A Strategic Economic Plan for the North East, was written after recommendations of a review chaired by Labour peer Lord Andrew Adonis.

The paper commits the Lep to spend £4.7m on the design of a North-East Schools Challenge, and seeks Government support to forge an alliance between schools, businesses and local education authorities to tackle disparities in educational performance.

TVU agreed a 13.9m extension to a Government Growth Deal earlier this year, which will be spent on projects between 2016 and 2021 and adds to £90.3m announced last year.

Bosses also aim to create and support up to 5,000 jobs, help build 1,500 homes and generate £150m public and private investment.

The TVU also spearheads the trailblazing Tees Valley Catalyst Fund, which supports firms bidding for work and was the first of its kind in the UK.

Its enterprise zone includes Darlington’s Central Park, where the Centre for Process Innovation will this year open a £38m National Biologics Manufacturing Centre to develop potentially life-saving cures and vaccines.