Treasury minister ‘encouraged’ after city visit

TREASURY minister Lord Sassoon says he is ‘encouraged and impressed’  after visiting Manchester.

The former civil servant and then economic adviser to David Cameron spent last Friday visiting the city to discuss policy and infrastructure issues.

He toured MediaCityUK, spent time with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and visited several businesses and attended an event at Manchester Cathedral.

He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “I go back to the Treasury confirmed in my view that Manchester is bouncing back after the recession. There is a lot of work to do for us in Government, and my message is that we will do it.”

The peer, commercial secretary to the Treasury, pledged new simpler, slimmed-down planning rules and a speedier appeals process, and emphasised the Government’s commitment to the ambitious High Speed 2 Rail scheme, as well as other local rail schemes.

“I am encouraged by the creation of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive – this should build on what the 10 local authorities were doing previously and will help create integrated transport solutions.

“We talked about the Northern Hub Rail Project (a 20-year vision set out by Network Rail to increase the amount of train services in the North by 40%) – but that will have to wait until the next round of bids for the next spending period. We have committed £85m to the Ordsall Curve, which will make a difference to local infrastructure, linking Manchester Victoria to Piccadilly.”

Brian Sloan, head of business and economic policy at Greater Manchester Chamber said: “It is vital that we keep ministers up to date with the issues facing Greater Manchester businesses.

“It is fair to say the discussion was open, honest and at times frank. Lord Sassoon made it clear the Government is determined to see through its tough spending plans to avoid the UK having the same problems countries like Italy are now facing. However he said investment would still be available for key areas such as apprenticeships.

“The main concerns raised by our members at the meetings were the need for investment in our transport infrastructure and the difficulty in finding employees with the right skills.”

The meetings were attended by leading businesses including Siemens, RBS, the Manchester Airport Group and O2.