Midlands Engine revs up for growth
THERE was mixed news for the Midlands Engine in George Osborne’s Budget.
Neither the North Midlands nor Leicestershire were granted the devolution deals they have worked towards, but the West Midlands will have its own mayor and the Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Deal was given the green light, and includes a £450m “gainshare pot”, devolved transport budget and “more-joined up adult skills and criminal justice”.
Mr Osborne said: “Because we know that if you want local communities to take responsibility for local growth, they have to be able to reap the rewards.
“The government is delivering the most radical devolution of power in modern British history.”
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The small print revealed boosts across the Midlands region, including the setting up of a £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund for smaller businesses. Meanwhile, new Enterprise Zones were announced for Loughborough and Leicester in the East, and for Brierley Hill Dudley in the Black Country.
Midlands Connect, the organisation set up in 2014 as a collaboration of 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships, Network Rail, Highways England, central government, 26 local authorities and the business community, will be put on a statutory basis and develop its priority road schemes including M1 upgrades and improvements on the A45, A46, M42 and M5.
Mr Osborne’s Budget also announced a £16m boost in R&D funding, matched by industry, to support aerospace firms in the East Midlands. This includes £7m to help Rolls-Royce to develop new high-temperature alloys in Derby. The Midlands will also receive over £15m funding to support R&D into lowering vehicle emissions.
There will also be £14m for STEAMhouse – a new innovation centre in Birmingham’s Creative Quarter in Digbeth.
Nick Blundell, Tax Executive Director at EY in the Midlands, said: “The Chancellor announced a whole bundle of measures to help small businesses in the Midlands and across the UK, all paid for through an increased tax burden on large corporations and plans to abolish a number of tax loopholes.”
