The new Coalition Government formed in May 2010 in the UK is to abolish Regional Development Agencies and, in the name of a ‘new localism’, is to replace them with Local Enterprise Partnerships, ‘joint local authority-business bodies brought forward by local authorities to promote local economic development’. This article looks at the proposals for LEPs, in the light of theories of governance. It explores the case examples of the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside, where there have been differing proposals for region-wide LEPs. It argues that far from localism, the move to set up LEPs is profoundly ant-regionalist and is re-centralisation in disguise, given that many economic development functions are being taken back to Whitehall. That problem of recentralisation, we suggest, risks being exacerbated by a fragmentation of LEPs into small territorial units, and a lack of resources.

No abstract

A primary threat to the operative effectiveness of drug courts is high failure rates. Empirically supported screening devices could aid drug court administrators in maximizing resources, either through client selection or by helping to target problem clients in need of specialized assistance. Drawing from South Carolina countylevel drug court records, success rates for participants with particular background characteristics were examined to identify correlations contributing to drug court success. Risk factors for drug court members were identified using chi-square and discriminant function analysis. Recidivism, crack as drug of choice, existence of criminality before drug use, and prior drug treatment were significantly related to drug court failure. These variables, as well as social stability variables, are argued to be vital elements in screening mechanisms.

No abstract