Pump more cash into RGF, says Labour

THE Labour Party has called upon the government to pump more cash into the Regional Growth Fund.

The party is arguing that the North West region alone has submitted bids worth £577m, which is likely to be twice the £230m-£300m figure that the Coalition Government has earmarked for the first tranche of project funding, which is set to be announced within the next few weeks.

Labour’s shadow business secretary John Denham said that the huge demand for resources from the fund was not a sign of its success, but of the dire need for regeneration funding.

The North West region subnitted 89 proposals for project funding, with one of the largest being an application from Liverpool’s city-region for £37m to facilitate the building of the new Liverpool Superport to handle post-Panamax container ships.

Labour has called on the fund to be increased by £200m in the current year through a repeat of the bankers’ bonus tax.

John Denham MP, Labour’s shadow Business Secretary, said that the tax would be a “quick but effective” way to drive growth: “These figures show that regions have huge potential for growth but that the Government is refusing to properly invest in them.

“Ministers will have to explain why hundreds of viable projects for growth won’t go ahead across the country.

“The Tory-led government need to rethink their growth strategy and invest in our regions, and get a grip on the scale of the challenge facing the country.”