Better relationship with Liverpool makes sense says Sir Howard

ATTRACTING international investors and working closely with cities like Liverpool and Leeds to encourage the Government to devolve more power, top Sir Howard Bernstein’s ‘to-do list’.

Sir Howard told TheBusinessDesk that Manchester must “work its socks off” to ensure successful delivery of landmark regeneration projects such as Airport City, which has secured funding from Beijing Construction and Engineering Group, and more recently Manchester Life, the project to build 6,000 houses in East Manchester which is backed by Abu Dhabi United Group – which is owned by Manchester City FC’s owner Sheikh Mansour.

“It’s great to have these international partners but we have to keep the pipeline moving and we must work our socks off to make those we have work. If we do that we will hopefully secure more from them and others too.”

He agreed that the “penny is starting to drop in Westminster, if not Whitehall”, about the need for increased regional devolution, stating: “People increasingly recognise that a single approach around national delivery models does not work.”

He said the Scottish independence debate ahead of the referendum there had also been helpful in highlighting the need for more power to be shifted away from London.

“With Scotland, none of the major parties are saying a No vote will mean less devolved powers, quite the opposite in fact. I think it has brought into sharp focus the argument that it could also work for big cities, not just Scotland.

“It’s up to us to create a road map, a sensible and serious plan for regional devolution for the £22bn of public money that is spent in Greater Manchester every year.”

The need to continue to make compelling, evidenced-based arguments to ministers on infrastructure spending is also crucial, if aspirations to rebalance the economy are to be achieved, he said.

“It shouldn’t be about HS2 or HS3, but about both, it is up to us – the business communities and local authorities – to make the case for this to happen.

“We’re not just talking about Manchester and Leeds, but Liverpool, Sheffield and Hull. We are talking about a holistic and prioritised series of investments, because if we are to create this Northern Powerhouse, connectivity between cities is very important.

“This is not going to happen next week, or next month or next year.We need a strategic plan for the next 10, 15 to 20 years. Unless we start to plan now, we’re never going to get there at all.”

A closer working relationship between Liverpool and Manchester has been a noticeable to many observers in the region over the last 12-18 months.

Sir Howard himself was brought in as an ambassador for the International Festival For Business – in Liverpool.

He says such collaboration on key areas such as transport, skills, science and innovation, is a “natural progression for cities as they respond to global market trends”.

“I think it’s fair to say that both cities have stopped looking over each other’s shoulders, and the relationship is now at a much better level.”