Jobs and regeneration the goal as C&W and Black Country City Deal bids succeed

ATTEMPTS by Coventry and Warwickshire and the Black Country to have more of a say in their own economic destinies have proved successful after both areas were awarded City Deals by the Government.

City Deals are designed to put cities and areas in control of the economic opportunities and challenges they face and to give them increased powers to meet local and regional needs.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) clinched a City Deal for its region after a successful bid to Government.

The CWLEP’s proposition is centred around the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector with a major emphasis on encouraging growth by making it easier for companies to realise expansion plans through simplifying routes to advice, finance and skills.

The Black Country proposition is based around creating thousands of manufacturing jobs and bringing in millions of pounds of investment for regeneration purposes.

Its City Deal agreement includes a new Black Country Investment Fund to help develop key industrial sites.

A five-strong team – led by CWLEP chair Sir Peter Rigby – presented the Coventry and Warwickshire City Deal bid to ministers in October and it has now been given the green light by the Government.

The CWLEP has devised a way to provide business with a single point of contact – “the Clearing House”.  It  intends to use this function to connect local and central government, educational institutions and others with businesses and suggests it can achieve that through a positive and proactive relationship with central government. 

The Clearing House will provide access to advisors on key matters relating to business support, access to finance, planning related matters and contacts related to employment requirements and skills.

Rigby said:  “We devised and presented a very strong proposition which was well received and understood and we are delighted to be given the full go ahead.

“The ministers and officials are aware of how, in the last 18 months, the LEP really has made strides in helping to create growth and we believe our City Deal proposition is a very exciting way of ensuring that it continues and gains further pace and momentum.

”There is a myriad of advice and support out there, but it is a very cluttered and confusing landscape and we believe that puts many companies off or directs them wrongly. That inhibits their ability to gain the support they need and therefore hampers growth.

“The Clearing House will cut through all that and present a clear and concise service to ensure companies are directed to the relevant support, quickly and accurately.”

Meanwhile, those behind the successful Black Country City Deal bid are suggesting it could see 5,800 new manufacturing jobs created in the area and generate £130m of private investment which will see brownfield sites regenerated.

They also suggest 1,500 apprenticeships will be created with 2,800 long-term unemployed receiving support towards employment.

Stewart Towe, chair of the Black Country LEP, said “Businesses constantly tell us that assisting the growth of high value manufacturing is critical to the prosperity of the Black Country.

“The Black Country’s partnership approach and the work of the LEP have created the City Deal to enable the Black Country to seize the global opportunities in high value manufacturing.”

Greg Clark, minister for cities, said: “This City Deal is a landmark achievement.  It puts the levers of power firmly into the hands of Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell and the whole region, so that everyone can benefit from real, local economic growth.

“The jobs that it will create, the commercial sites in it will unlock and the skills it will provide to young people and the long-term unemployed will put the Black Country in a prime position to take advantage as the economy turns the corner.

“I pay tribute to the way in which business and civic leaders across the Black Country have pulled out the stops to develop this hugely important deal, and I look forward to my visit to the region in the New Year.”

The Black Country City Deal agreement includes a new Black Country Investment Fund to help develop key industrial sites. This fund will be created through the agreement of a £20m government loan at a flexible rate and an investment of £10m from the four Black Country local authorities.

And the Black Country Growth Factory is being set up with £3.1m of support from the Regional Growth Fund.

The Growth Factory will provide an online portal for local businesses to access local and national support services, including specialist support to small businesses in the high value manufacturing sector.