The dismay of Prospect members at the abolition of regional development agencies - whose role was to help create jobs - was made clear in a letter to the Birmingham Post today. Iain Neville, Prospect branch chair at Advantage West Midlands, said: "I would love someone in government to explain to me and my members why what they are putting in place for the post Advantage West Midlands period is better for anyone.

"Most of my members will be given notice of redundancy in the next couple of months, with many already having left ‘voluntarily' over recent months since the government announced the abolition of RDAs."

He warned that large amounts what what the RDA did are being transferred to a bewildering range of different departments and organisations - with three central government departments and umpteen different national bodies looking to take over some of the RDA’s work.

And he questioned the government's claims that new local enterprise partnerships would replace the RDAs.

"There is almost no mention from government of them taking on anything that was previously done by RDAs. Meanwhile, our members are no longer doing what they have were employed to do - helping the businesses and communities of this region.

"They are checking on files, and sorting out the best way to hand over to these other bodies. They are doing this with pride and professionalism, but a very heavy heart."

Prime Minister David Cameron recently praised Advantage West Midlands for winning the Midlands Excellence Award, saying: "You are the doers and the grafters who are going to bring the wealth, the jobs and opportunity our country needs so badly."

Neville pointed out that making such remarks while getting rid of the agency in such disorganised way "would be farcical if it were not such a serious matter for the West Midlands and my members."

For more background, see CutStop focus on RDAs

The government is aboloishing the country's nine RDAs by March 2012, with the loss of 2,700 staff.

In 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers found that - over the four years 2002-03 to 2006-07 - each £1 invested by RDAs had directly benefited regional economies by an average of at least £4.50.