Commentary Part 6: Economic Prosperity Boards and Combined Authorities Section 88 –EPBs and their areas
175.Subsection (1) provides that the Secretary of State can make an order establishing an Economic Prosperity Board (“EPB”) for an area. An EPB will have functions relating to the economic development and regeneration of its area.
176.Subsections (2) to (6) specify the conditions that need to be met for an area to be capable of designation as an EPB’s area.
177.Subsection (2) specifies that the area must consist of the whole of two or more local government areas in England.
178.Subsections (3) and (4) stipulate that the area must be made up of local government areas that have contiguous boundaries. It is not possible for the area of an EPB to completely surround an area which does not form part of it, nor for any area which does form part of it to have no common boundaries with any part of the rest of the area.
179.Subsection (5) stipulates that it is not possible for any local government area to be part of more than one area of an EPB, or part of an EPB’s area at the same time as being part of the area of a combined authority (see section 103).
180.Subsection (6) provides that each local government area that forms part of the area of an EPB must have been included in a scheme prepared and published under section 98.
181.Subsection (7) states that a local government area for this Part means the area of a county council or a district council. It does not therefore include Greater London or the Isles of Scilly.
182.Subsection (8) requires an order under this section to specify the name that the EPB will be known by.