Manchester braced for bad news with Regional Growth Fund bids
GREATER Manchester is braced for bad news when the Government announces the first successful bidders from its first round of the Regional Growth Fund on Monday.
Business Secretary Vince Cable revealed the timing of the eagerly-anticipated decision at last night’s Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce annual dinner.
It is understood that the majority of the 24 bids submitted to the £1.4bn find by Greater Manchester leaders will have failed the rigorous selection process overseen by Lord Heseltine’s independent panel.
Sources close to the process told TheBusinessDesk.com it was acknowledged that Manchester had not fared well in the process and had received “mixed messages” from some government departments over the exact criteria required.
One source said, “I think the city region will have a better idea for the second round of bids – which is where most of the money is – so all is not lost.”
The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) is understood to have co-ordinated bids within the 10 local authority areas, although each local bid had its own private sector partner.
AGMA is understood to have requested funds totalling £50m for projects such as Hatton Gardens in Stockport, Ashton Moss in Tameside, Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale, Port Salford and Manchester’s Royal Eye Hospital.
The RGF was set up to mitigate the impact of the closure of the regional development agencies and support the creation of private sector jobs in areas heavily reliant on the public sector for employment.
In total the 468 bids for the first round of the RGF sought almost £2.8bn – double the total amount in the fund.
The money is only being released in tranches over a three-year period and it is believed that just £250m-£300m is available for first round bids.
Of the 74 North West bids 32 of these came from the Liverpool city-region and 11 from Cheshire and Warrington, while seven came from Cumbria.
