Mixed signals over Midlands Engine as Chamber calls for traction
What appears to be an East/West split has opened up around the Midlands Engine after one of the most influential business bodies in the East Midlands has said it is “disappointed” that George Osborne didn’t make more of the Midlands Engine in yesterday’s Budget.
The East Midlands Chamber of Commerce says that unless the Midlands Engine is put on a similar footing as the Northern Powerhouse, it will have difficulty getting off the ground.
However, in a statement to press entitled ‘Midlands Engine for Growth fuelled by Budget 2016’, the interim chair of Midlands Engine board said he is confident that the movement is on track.
Chris Hobson, director of policy at East Midlands Chamber, said: “It was disappointing that once again, there was no mention whatsoever in the Chancellor’s speech to the Commons of the Midlands Engine for Growth, which is key to driving the UK economy.
“If this concept is ever going to gain traction, it needs to be given a similar level of prominence in major speeches and announcements as the so-called Northern Powerhouse.”
Budget 2016: East Mids business owners praise SME focus
Hobson praised the Chancellor for announcing new initiatives across the East Midlands, but said there needs to be a more joined-up approach to attracting inward investment in the region.
He added: “New Enterprise Zones for Leicester and Loughborough, a planned £250m investment in the region’s small businesses by the British Business Bank, a £16m injection into the region’s aerospace industry and further support for the Midlands Connect partnership, will all help to underpin the significant contribution the Midlands – and the East Midlands in particular – makes towards driving UK economic growth and job creation.
“These need to be part of a co-ordinated suite of measures aimed at fueling the Midlands Engine, rather than one-off initiatives.”
However, David Frost, interim chairman of the Midlands Engine Board, and chairman of the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire LEP, said: “The Midlands Engine for Growth is a huge undertaking; a partnership seeking to grow the economy to improve life for the more than ten million people living in the region and boost UK business.
“The Chancellor’s support for our ambitions through today’s Budget announcements, particularly in the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund and confidence in Midlands Connect becoming a statutory body, show that we are already on the right track and that Government has faith in our long-term objectives.”
The Midlands Engine – the prospectus for which was officially launched by Business Secretary Sajid Javid MP, at Birmingham University in December 2015 – is a regional partnership between business, local authorities, skills and training providers, universities, 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), community and voluntary groups, and others to promote greater collaboration, to grow the economy. By 2030 the initiative aims to create 300,000 extra jobs and add £34bn to the UK economy.
