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All RDAs across England are closing by March 2012 (see transition and closure section). With our resources reducing steadily, this page has not been recently updated and the information below may not be current. If in doubt, please contact us directly.

Regional Funding Advice 2 (RFA2)

The Regional Funding Advice process involves regional partners coming together to advise Government on regional spending priorities for transport, housing, skills and broader economic development in order to influence public spending.

The final Regional Funding Advice 2 (RFA2) was agreed and submitted to the Regional Minister on 28 February 2009.  This was the second RFA process. The region submitted previous advice to government in 2006, leading to tangible outcomes such as the development of the Regional Infrastructure Fund and progress on a number of major transport schemes.

The Regional Development Agencies and (the former) Regional Assemblies had a key role to play in developing RFA2 which was based on wide consultation with a broad range of stakeholders, including the business community, local authorities, social, environmental and economic partners, and the third sector. Government Offices facilitated the process in each region and a number of stakeholder meetings were held to gather the views of the wider community.

In July 2009, Government formally responded to the South West’s RFA2 submission. Ministers praised the South West’s ongoing work to develop joint approaches to tackling the region’s key challenges. They also acknowledged the region’s leading position in delivering the low carbon economy agenda, including welcoming further exploration of two major energy pilots for the region. Ministers recognised the region’s commitment to public transport solutions, and made available an indicative sum of up to £2.8bn to deliver a number of priority transport infrastructure projects across the region over the next 10 years.  Increased allocation to the Regional Infrastructure Fund was also prioritised.

A train at Plymouth railway station

Bus in Bristol