Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership is estimated to have helped generate £3.5 billion for the local economy via its distribution of the Local Growth Fund Programme.
The LLEP said it had invested £126 million of growth fund money into the city and county economy since its launch less than a decade ago.
And it said new research in commissioned suggests the potential return on investment could be more than £28 for every £1 of that funding.
The fund was created to , support high quality skills and training, and deliver transport improvements.
The LLEP brought in East Midlands strategy and funding specialist Focus Consultants to look at the figures and draw up a “mid-term” evaluation of the Local Growth Fund.
Helen Miller, head of programmes at the LLEP said: “The purpose of the Local Growth Fund is to drive growth across Leicester and Leicestershire.
“We have invested £126 million in 20 projects across four themes including enhancing transport connectivity, investing in skills infrastructure and business support, extending the availability of superfast broadband and investing in flood risk management.
“The LGF evaluation is a valuable piece of work for the LLEP.
“It enables us to understand the impacts that have already been realised by the programme and analyse the longer-term benefits we will see in the future.
“This will help support the development of our strategic plans across the LLEP area.
“We appreciate the hard-work, diligent approach and timely manner in which the team at Focus worked on this.”
Focus looked at the impact and value for money of the 20 Leicester and Leicestershire regeneration projects – which include the , Melton Livestock Market, MIRA Technology Institute, Leicester Space Park and investment in the A511 around Coalville.
It looked at the immediate and projected long-term impact that the projects will have.
The report suggested, for instance, that new homes brought forward under the scheme could generate an additional £133 million for the local economy, while new business space would support an extra 7,500 jobs, and the investment in Superfast Broadband could benefit the economy by more than £15 million a year.
Heather Frecklington, a partner of Focus Consultants said: “This has been a really interesting study for Focus Consultants as there haven’t been many evaluations of the Local Growth Fund across the country to date and it’s great to start understanding the impact of such a major investment.
“The diversity and quality of projects across Leicester and Leicestershire has been really impressive and it’s been fascinating to get to know the projects better.”
The consultancy, which is based in Nottingham and has offices in Leicester, Newark and London, specialises in areas including funding for projects, economic impact assessments, regeneration strategies, research and feasibility strategies.
Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership was set up to drive forward regeneration and growth of the local economy, working with private and public sector partners and central government.
There are 38 LEPs in England, and each have played a part in redistributing more than £12 billion from the Local Growth Fund.
