by political editor Paul Francis

The cost of scrapping a jobs and investment quango in the south east could be as much as £43m.

SEEDA - the South East England Development Agency - is to be abolished in 2012 under a government cull of quangos partly designed to save taxpayers’ money.

However, figures released by the agency under the Freedom of Information Act to the KM Group indicate the costs associated with winding up the organisation, which has a regional office in Chatham, could run into tens of millions of pounds.

The sum will have to be borne by the taxpayer, although it is not yet clear who will inherit the debts.

Some of the estimated £43.5m is almost certain to be inherited by the partnership body that is replacing Seeda - the Kent, Essex and Sussex Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) which was recently given the go-ahead by Eric Pickles.

SEEDA says meeting redundancy costs for its staff is estimated at between £5m and £10m.

Other potential liabilities come in the form of contractual commitments that it has already agreed and will extend beyond the abolition date of 2012.

These include grants supporting business and investment initiatives - many of which are in Kent - to their conclusion and are estimated at about £25m. SEEDA says it is working with its partners to "explore alternative delivery options" that could reduce its commitments.

The organisation is also facing a £5.6m bill for ending leases it has on offices, although in the case of Chatham Maritime, it can break its lease there in 2012 without any financial penalty.

It also has idenitifed possible legal costs associated with negotiating with third parties at £3m.These could bring some benefits as these negotiations may cut SEEDA’s overall liabilities.

In addition, the sale of some of its assets - including land and buildings - will in time bring down the overall costs.

A government spokesman for the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation said:

"The disposal or transfer of RDA assets and liabilities is a hugely complex and challenging process. There are many issues to consider and no quick fix, but above all the Government has a duty to ensure that the process is properly managed and achieves the best possible outcomes for the tax payer and the region."

The statement added that RDAs were making their own plans to manage their liabilities and these would be reviewed by the government early next year.