Local enterprise partnerships set up by local councils and businesses hould be covered by the Freedom of Information Act, the industry trade body has said.

The News Media Association is also calling for the partnerships to be made subject to local government transparency rules to prevent billions of pounds being “hidden from public scrutiny”.

The voluntary partnerships, which exist between local authorities and businesses to help determine economic priorities in their area, were first set up by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2011.

They are due to receive £12bn in funding between 2015-16 and 2010-21 to invest in local projects and businesses, but the NMA found that only 15 of the 39 LEPs in England and Wales publish registers on board members’ interests.

The NMA also found only seven of the LEPs’ full-year reports included clear, comprehensive statements of income and expenditure including salaries, while 19 appear to publish either no breakdown of money in or out in their annual reports or filed either dormant or highly abbreviated accounts at Companies House.

The NMA has put forward its findings in a submission to a government consultation on local government transparency rules.

Lucy Gill, NMA legal, policy and regulatory affairs advisor, said: “LEPs wield immense power, making investment decisions worth billions of pounds to local communities, yet journalists have enormous difficulty getting hold of even basic information about how this money is being spent.

“As the role and resources of LEPs expands, there can no longer be any justification for excluding them from local government transparency standards and the Freedom of Information Act.”

The NMA has welcomed several proposals in the consultation which would strengthen local authorities’ transparency obligations.