South West of England Regional Development Agency

Its purpose was to lead the development of a sustainable economy in South West England, investing to unlock the region's business potential.Significant examples include: Figures published in 2010 showed that the SWRDA’s work had: In 2010/11 the SWRDA invested £239 million (its largest spend in a single year) in initiatives across South West England from its own funds and from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), in all benefiting over 500 live projects.SWRDA managed delivery of the RDPE grant initiative through extensive partnership working, and the formation of a dedicated network of contracted county based project facilitators and business advisors.[citation needed] SWRDA admitted in 2008 that it had spent £1,871,829 on international offices and staff since 2005 - these include Boston in the US, Tokyo in Japan, Shenzhen in China, Melbourne in Australia and Mumbai in India.[citation needed] Further criticism, mostly from Cornwall, said that RDAs were unelected, unrepresentative and unaccountable quangos; that the area covered by the SWRDA was an artificially-imposed large region and not natural; and called for a Cornish Development Agency to be set up.