Quango chiefs tasked with boosting jobs and investment across Cumbria are set to be quizzed by councillors amid fears Allerdale may not be getting “value for money”.

Councillors expressed concern over whether Government cash received by the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership was filtering down to the people in the borough who need it the most.

One of 38 LEPs in England, the quango oversees 17 deals designed to generate jobs and economic growth, with more than £60 million of government funding invested in Cumbria up to 2021.

Allerdale council’s overview and scrutiny committee has previously been given a presentation on the partnership but agreed that a second meeting was needed to find out more about how the funding was being allocated.

The committee agreed to invite Craig Ivison, head of employment and skills at Cumbria LEP, to explain the process and to find out if local colleges can get a larger slice of the grants available.

Bill Pegram, Labour councillor for Netherhall in Maryport, said: “Is it like the Foreign Aid budget [in that] by the time it reaches the people that need it there is not much left?

“I would like LEP themselves, rather than the providers to explain in plain English how it works.”

Labour Councillor Janet Farebrother, who co-chaired the meeting, said the group wanted to be sure the money was “filtering down to the correct people” and was not being “diluted”.

She said: “Are we getting value for money? We would like to know a bit more about that and maybe look at how the model could be revised. It seems to be a more complex issue than was presented to us. Why aren’t the colleges getting more resources?”

The committee also heard criticisms of some of the providers who benefit from funding allocated via the LEP.

Tory councillor Alan Pitcher said the presentations previously heard were “very Workington-centric”.

He added: “Two of the groups claimed to be working in north Allerdale as well but I made a few enquiries and nobody had heard of them. I found that quite worrying.

“We need to look at how they are using their funding

“I contacted the North Allerdale Development Trust and they hadn’t heard of them. Considering, we are trying to encourage employment, I think that needs to be followed up.”

Joe Cowell, Conservative councillor for Wigton, added: “We have got to be very particular who we support and who we provide finance for – and I think we need to look seriously at that in the future.”

Between now and 2024, the LEP has pledged to:

• Create 15,000 additional full-time equivalent jobs

• Boost Cumbria’s economy by £600m more than current predictions through targeted investment in key projects

• Support the local planning authorities to deliver 30,000 new homes through their Local Plans

• Raise skill levels through working with local education and training providers, reducing the proportion of Cumbria’s firms facing a skills gap by 3 per cent

• Increase visitor expenditure by over £500m

• Increase the number of businesses reporting growth by 5 per cent through the Cumbria Growth Hub support

• Achieve 100 per cent coverage of superfast broadband