Six point plan for Northern Powerhouse unveiled
PRIME minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne jointly championed their Northern Powerhouse initiative at an event in Manchester.
Sharing the platform at an event attended by more than 200 business leaders and civic figures, the pair unveiled a six-point plan to energise the economy of the North underpinned by investment in transport, science, culture and sport.
There was an acknowledgement too, there are “no quick fixes”, as the pair spoke at the event at the former Granada Studios site, which has been rebranded as St John’s and will include commercial and residential space along with a hotel and a new cultural space called Factory Manchester.
In their speech, the Prime Minister and Chancellor said the North West had seen the joint fastest growth in output per head in the UK in 2013, while employment levels are at a high.
Their masterplan is:
1: To increase the long term growth rate of the region to at least the forecast growth rate of the whole UK which could generate an £18b real terms increase in the size of the North West economy by 2030.
2: To raise the employment rate in the region to that of the UK average. That will ensure over 100,000 more people are in employment during the next Parliament by supporting the private sector, backing business investment and new start-ups.
3: Deliver the largest-ever and most sustained investment in the transport infrastructure of the North West. With £4.5bn committed to electrification of existing rail lines, new trains, new urban transport, and a major upgrade to the roads across the whole region.
4: Make the region a global centre of “outstanding scientific innovation”, with a particular focus on material science, biomedicine, super-computing and energy with major investments in the universities and NHS teaching hospitals, and making sure the energy resources are used to the benefit of local people
5: To raise the quality of life in the region by supporting its cultural and sporting strengths, building up to 25,000 new homes, nurturing the rural environment and improving education outcomes.
6: To give greater power and voice to the great cities and counties of the region, delivering a new directly-elected Mayor for Greater Manchester, and supporting other areas with appropriate plans to give people greater control over their local economy and local government
They also announced three new measures to improve transport links, invest in science, and boost house-building.
This includes asking Colin Matthews, the new Chairman of the Highways Agency, to oversee the development of a plan for a major improvement in Trans-Pennine roads. They cited new figures released by the government showing that a tunnel could cut journey times across the Pennines by up to 30 minutes.
A new research investment programme called Health North – will also be created. The Chancellor has asked Professor Ian Greer, Provost of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Liverpool to develop this with a view to driving future medical innovations.
Finally, they announced the short list for Housing Zones – areas which are in line to receive government loans to regenerate run-down brownfield areas into new housing. Three shortlisted schemes in the north-west have put forward proposals to create up to 5,500 homes
The Prime Minister said: “When it comes to the next generation few things are more important than rebalancing our economy. We can only have a strong British economy if no part of the country is left behind. In the USA they’ve got major centres of industry not just in New York but in Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Atlanta. That is what we should aspire to in the UK, economic might not just held in one city but spread right across our country.
“The cities and towns of the north of England can have that critical mass. If we join them together as a team and let them pool their strengths, if we back their scientists and innovators, if we back their thriving cultural life, make them great places to live and give them powerful elected voices, then we can create a northern powerhouse.”
Chancellor George Osborne added: “The economy of the North West is growing, creating jobs, and doing so more quickly than other parts of the country. That has not, frankly, been the case over much of the last 30 or 40 years, as our economy has become more unbalanced, and the gap between the economic performances of the north of England lagged behind that of London and the south.
“Our message today is that is not inevitable, it is not something we should accept; it is instead something we have in our power to overcome.
“Creating a northern powerhouse of jobs, investment, prosperity and bright futures, that is the objective of our long term economic plan for the north-west that we set.”
