‘Cautious welcome’ for £556m Northern Powerhouse investment
The £556m funding package for Northern Powerhouse industrial strategy announced by Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday has been met with caution by local authorities and LEPs.
A £156.9m deal for Yorkshire and the Humber includes £67.5m for the Leeds City Region area, and £23.7m for York, North Yorkshire and East Riding.
The investment includes £20m for new flood prevention measures in Leeds, Calderdale, Bradford, Skipton and Kirklees, and brings the investment in Leeds, in addition to the £1bn Growth Deal, to £1.1bn.
However they expressed ‘disappointment’ over comments by the Northern Powerhouse minister, Andrew Percy MP and have called for a ‘pragmatic solution’ to end the “devolution deadlock” in Yorkshire.
Roger Marsh OBE, chairman of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “I am particularly pleased to see the Government allocate additional investment today to attract new businesses into our region and to help small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) grow and export.
“The strength of commercial confidence in this region – evidenced by a £10bn-plus investment pipeline – is booming, and has elevated Leeds City Region into the top three areas outside the capital for foreign investment.
“To continue this extraordinary success however, it’s vital that our City Region secures a meaningful devolution deal that will enable us to become a global economic force that competes for the UK alongside London and Manchester.
“If not, we risk undermining the ambitions set out in the government’s newly launched industrial strategy by constraining the economic potential of one-fifth of the Northern economy. This is not in the country’s interest, particularly post-Brexit, and it’s certainly not in the interest of the 3 million people who live in Leeds City Region.
“I would echo the views express by business leaders that we need to explore all pragmatic solutions to end this devolution deadlock as quickly as possible.
“On the face of it there are no legal barriers to this approach that government couldn’t overcome if they want to make progress locally.”
York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership chairman Barry Dodd CBE said: “We welcome this additional investment which will be put to vital projects to help unlock our economy by creating thousands of new jobs, homes and attracting new private sector investment.”
“The funds are a welcome recognition of the vital work taking place with business and local authority leaders across our area, and their successful track so far delivering on our Growth Deal promises.”
