Clegg appeals for ideas on Northern governance
DEPUTY prime minister Nick Clegg is using a speech at the International Festival for Business today to call for ideas on how to drive the economic development of Northern cities.
His Northern Futures project follows Chancellor George Osborne’s “Northern powerhouse” speech several weeks ago when he floated the idea of more devolved powers for those cities that embrace a London-style mayor.
In his speech he will give an email address – email address northernfutures@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk – which people can use to send their suggestions.
Mr Clegg will also say Growth Deals are being announced next week to extend the powers of local leaders and give them access to a £12bn pot of funding over the next six years to create jobs, build homes and kick-start economic projects.
He will say: “The fact is that in a global economy our Northern cities aren’t just competing with other locations in the South, East or West of England. “They’ve also got to rank against global cities like Frankfurt, Lyon, Bangalore and Chengdu for your investment. So the question is how can we fully exploit these new local powers to create a vibrant Northern hub to accelerate growth across this half of our country and put us at the top of the list of global cities?
“We’ve also got to be realistic that the best ideas aren’t going to come from Whitehall. Nobody knows more about what local economies need than the people who actually live and work day in and day out in the communities themselves. So, today, I’m launching the next phase in our drive to generate the best ideas for stronger local growth with our new Northern Futures Project.”
