Slow economic growth in Yorkshire

ECONOMIC growth in Yorkshire was slower than in many other parts of the country from 1997 to 2012.

That’s according to the Office for National Statistics which has analysed the rate of growth in each local enterprise partnership area, based on measures such as levels of pay, trading profits, rental income and business tax.

It ranked the Humber region as having one of lowest average growth rates between 1997 and 2012 with an average growth of 3.1%. The lowest was the Black Country with 2.5%, while the highest was London with 5.1%.

All of Yorkshire’s LEP areas were among those with the slowest growth in nominal Gross Value Added over the period. In the Humber, nominal growth actually declined over the period at -0.1%. The Leeds City Region saw growth of 0.6%, Sheffield City Region 0.4% and Yorkshire and North Yorkshire 0.3%.

The Sheffield City Region was one of the areas with the lowest Gross Value Added per head (a way to compare regions of different sizes) in 2012 at 71.1%. Between 2007 and 2012, seven LEP areas saw a decline in nominal Gross Value Added per head with the Humber LEP and Leicester and Leicestershire LEP having the largest annual decline, both at -0.4%.
 
For the Humber, manufacturing provided the highest share of overall Gross Value Added at 25% in 2011. 3% of the York and North Yorkshire area’s growth came from agriculture, forestry and fishing and 24% from wholesale and retail, transport and accommodation. In the Sheffield City Region, 26% of growth came from public administration, education and health.

Chairman of York and North Yorkshire with East Riding LEP, Barry Dodd, said: “We really do have a two speed economy in the UK. Anybody visiting London can actually see and feel it. That’s why we need strong, well-funded, Local Enterprise Partnerships in Yorkshire.

“In my LEP area, York, North Yorkshire and the East Riding, we have many thousands of small businesses and very few medium or large companies. The LEP is focussed on helping them to grow. This is the key to growing our whole economy. We are fortunate in having the roll out of high speed broadband and we live in area with wonderful scenic assets – a great place to live and grow a business.”

Kishor Tailor, chief executive of the Humber LEP, said: “These figures show why we need the devolution of powers and resources from Government so we can target them at the key things in the region that will enable economic growth such as infrastructure, skills and business support.

“Building on our plan for the Humber we have secured the Hull and Humber City Deal, and along with other LEPs are now negotiating our Growth Deal and launching our Strategic Economic Plan to help support business growth in our region.”

Chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP, James Newman, said that in recent months, the national economy has improved to the extent that it is being talked about by economic commentators as the fastest growing in the developed world, but whilst this is positive news for UK plc, our own economic analysis shows that an upturn in the national situation doesn’t necessarily lead to economic improvements in the Sheffield City Region.

“I believe that for real long term economic resilience we cannot continue to rely on London’s financial services for growth,” he said.

“To avoid a return to the economic problems of the last five years, the UK Government must not deviate from its current and sensible policy of re-building its economic powerhouses outside of London. However, local business growth must be at the heart of this and this means local decisions must be devolved to local organisations such as the LEP and our newly created combined authority.

“Our Growth Plan, which we submitted this month, gives Government the opportunity to arm local leaders with the resources we need to deliver growth and jobs for our communities. At the heart of our plan is the creation of 70,000 new private sector jobs and 6,000 new businesses over the next ten years.”

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