Relationship with Government not broken says Sir Howard

SIR Howard Bernstein has said the relationship between Manchester City Council and Whitehall is still working, despite recent high profile spats with senior Government figures over the scale of the public sector cuts.

Seen by many in the North West, and outside it, as the leading figure in urban regeneration and a pragmatic and dynamic figure, Sir Howard’s salary has come into question both from Prime Minister David Cameron and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles amid a row over the £100m in budget cuts Manchester council is dealing with.
 
He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We knew the next couple of years was going to be tough – and maybe it has been tougher than we thought, but what we have to do is make sure Manchester continues to grow.

“We still have a working relationship with Government, I have to put on one side the politics, which is plainly just that, and recognise that the Government has set its stall out on spending cuts. As a democratically elected council Manchester has expressed its views, but what we have to do is strive for growth.”

Referring to last week’s trip to the international property forum MIPIM, Sir Howard said: “Anyone who saw the proposals we made about our approach to science, innovation and expanding our infrastructure and commercial capacity can have no doubts about our continuing ambition and our capacity to deliver.”

Ahead of the announcement next Wednesday from the Government about which projects will win support from the new Regional Growth Fund, he said AGMA – the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities had submitted a “creative approach to public sector leadership”,  which would see funding pumped into viable commercial schemes, currently unable to access funding at the right price, and then this money recycled into other projects after delivery.

“We think it’s the way forward and would be somewhat bewildered if its does not get support from Government.”

He confirmed equity funding from the RGF would be used alongside mezzanine finance from the Evergreen Fund for stalled commercial schemes to make them happen.

See more of our interview with Sir Howard in our weekly Property Email this lunchtime. Click here to update your profile if you’re not already receiving it.