RDA investment gives fourfold return, says report

THE nine regional development agencies in England put an average of £4.50 back into the economy for each £1 they spend, according to a report published today.

The findings of the report by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform mean that the RDAs have quadrupled their £5.1bn of evaluated expenditure over the past five years, with an overall return on investment of over £23bn.

As part of the report, 65 programmes and projects led by the Northwest Regional Development Agency were evaluated, showing that the agency has performed at least as well as the national RDA average in terms of return on investment.

The report said that over the five year period, the NWDA had directly created or safeguarded 97,000 jobs from the investments it made, created 3,500 new businesses and helped 14,000 companies improve their business performance.

One project highlighted by the report was the creation of Liverpool Commercial District, which it said achieved £56m GVA against a £7m investment and created or safeguarded almost 1,500 jobs.

Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the NWDA, said: “It’s very positive to see that many of the projects and initiatives evaluated have had a real and significant impact on regional economies. Importantly, these results only demonstrate part of our impact and we know there will be more value to come.

“I believe our approach in providing strategic leadership is our most important role and in the current challenging economic conditions, it will be essential for us to learn lessons and ensure the best value for money for our future investments.”