Race on for regional growth cash
BUSINESS leaders and councillors face a race against the clock to take advantage of a new £1bn fund aimed at promoting regional economic growth, it has emerged.
Ministers have already set a September 6 deadline to receive plans for how companies and councils plan to form “local enterprise partnerships” to replace regional development agencies including Yorkshire Forward.
However, extra urgency has been added by the Government’s consultation documents on the new £1bn Regional Growth Fund, to be chaired by Lord Heseltine, which reveal Ministers want the new LEPs to have bids ready by the end of December.
Richard Kendall, policy executive at Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, said: “The short deadline for the first bids shows how urgent it is that local authorities agree with business what form their LEPs will take so that they can hit the ground running.
“The risk if they don’t is that we will lose out to areas that have already decided how they want to work.”
He added: “The size of the fund is limited when compared to past funding for the RDAs. Given that resources are scarce, I would like to see a clearer commitment to targeting them at deprived areas that would benefit the most – particularly those in the north of England.”
In a foreword to the consultation document, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says the fund is aimed at rebalancing the economy to reduce dependence on sectors such as financial services and at reducing the dependence of some areas on public sector spending and employment.
Ian Williams, director of policy at Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Whilst the Chamber believes in balancing economic disparities, I would question whether £1bn of funding would be enough to tackle this deep-seated weakness in some locations, which became dependent on public sector activity once old established industries closed.
“The Government needs to also ensure that funding is distributed fairly across the whole of Yorkshire, as all of the region will be hit by the public spending cuts.”
Mr Williams said the limit on funding made it vital that the process was “lean and mean” and money was focused on “priority projects”.
Margaret Wood, regional chairman of the Institute of Directors, said: “Inward investment, export, innovation and access to finance are core to the health of the economy and its contribution to the rebalancing of the industrial base nationally.
“The successful bid into the Regional Growth Fund is vital for the long term sustainable renaissance of Yorkshire and the well being of its citizens and it is imperative that there is a focused plan and it happens quickly otherwise we will lag behind other regions.”
The Government announced on Friday that Lord Heseltine, who took a leading role in the last Conservative government’s urban regeneration efforts, will lead the panel overseeing the Regional Growth Fund.
