Government must do more for private sector growth, says CBI
THE Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is calling on the Government to increase the size of enterprise zones and reduce the minimum bid threshold for the Regional Growth Fund to £500,000.
It believes these measures, along with a raft of other proposals outlined in its Growth Landscape report, will help re-balance the economy by encouraging the private secotr in areas away from London and the South East.
It also wants to see more power for Local Enterprise Partnerships, and more money.
The report found that 50% of businesses surveyed expect LEPs in their current shape to have little or no impact on growth, but 67% of respondents said that better financial resourcing would make LEPs more successful.
The CBI believes North West growth will be led by nuclear, off-shore wind, transport infrastructure and major projects such as the Peel Group’s Atlantic Gateway. And it cites business growth over the past 15 years as evidence of future potential. The report says Preston grew its private sector jobs base by 16.2% between 1998 and 2008, Liverpool by 6.6% and Manchester by 5.5%.
Damian Waters, CBI Director for the North West, said: “The report shows the strengths our region has and where we need to focus our energy. Although manufacturing has declined over the last 10 years the report reflects just how powerful the sector still is for job and wealth creation. The nuclear, renewables and education sectors are also very important.
“Equally however there is an urgency for our region to diversify so we are not too reliant on certain sectors. Fundamental to this is the need to encourage smaller businesses and build on our robust base of medium and large businesses. There is a massive challenge here to harness the potential of the region and correct the regional disparities in business start up rates and job and wealth creation. The LEPs have a big role to play on a regional basis and require more power and clout.”
Last month the Government said Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will be given up to £250,000 a year each by the Government to meet running costs – if they can find match funding.
