A GOVERNMENT advisor has accused enterprise chiefs in the north of the region of "lagging behind" their Tees Valley counterparts and urged them to "get their act together" or risk missing out on crucial funding.

Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, who has been at the heart of the region's economic life for decades, reckoned local enterprise partnership Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU) had done "a first class job" during the past year to secure Government regeneration money and win approval for its innovative enterprise zone plan.

But the former Teesside MP feared internal wrangling within the North Eastern Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which covers Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside, and Wearside, had stifled its ability to act as a regional champion. Paul Woolston, the LEP's chairman, said he was "proud" of what had been achieved in the short time it had been up and running. He pointed to the £17m secured from the Growing Places Fund; approval for its enterprise zone bid; and a pilot scheme for small and medium-sized firms as early successes. The LEPs, which are replacing regional development agencies, such as One North East, have no budgets of their own but bid for funding from Government schemes - such as the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) - in partnership with private sector firms. In the first round of the RGF announced last April, TVU was the most successful LEP bidder in the country.

Sir Ian, a Labour and later Social Democratic Party MP during the 1970s and 1980s, now sits alongside Lord Heseltine on the panel which oversees bids submitted to the RGF. His role has seen him meet with LEPs across the country and he believed the North Eastern LEP was "way behind the curve."

He urged it, and businesses across the region, to "think big" when submitting bids for RGF round 3, which opens next month.

"I think that TVU is streets ahead of the North Eastern LEP," said Sir Ian, who retains a strong presence in the regional business community as chief executive of Bluehall Properties and chairman of the Port of Tyne.

"It has made a considerable impact in this region in terms of its RGF bids and it is highly regarded at Westminster. The local authorities across the Tees Valley have pooled their expertise to work for the greater good of the region and, speaking as a Teessider myself, that has been very pleasing to note.

"Sadly, the same cannot be said for the northern part of the region which is behind the game. Serious effort needs to be made if they hope to catch up."

Mr Woolston, who plans to share his views in an upcoming meeting with Sir Ian, said: "Sir Ian and I are both passionate advocates for the North-East.

"TVU was built on a well-established organisation but we only appointed our board seven months ago. We are at different stages in our development.

"I think we have achieved a lot in a short space of time and I expect in RGF round 3 we will play an even bigger role than before."

Furthermore, the North Eastern LEP will shortly appoint a team of four senior executives who will be tasked with driving forward economic regeneration.

"Hopefully that will prove to be a step in the right direction," added Sir Ian who explained to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Annual Summit in Newcastle on Friday how RGF money and match funding from the private sector would create sustainable private sector jobs.

"The region more dependent on public sector jobs than any other in the UK is the North-East. Its not that the public sector is too big but that the private sector is too small.

"I want to encourage firms in the region to start putting their bids together now for the round of bidding that will be coming down the track soon. As there is a fairly substantial amount of money available, I would encourage large bids from firms in this region," he said.

The Chancellor's Autumn Statement earmarked a further 1bn in Regional Growth Fund monies, the first part of which is to open for bids in February.