Group calls on government to champion regional infrastructure investment

A report by an economics consultancy group is urging the Government to champion investment in regional infrastructure to support economic growth, which it says will help to eradicate the north-south divide.

The report by Metro Dynamics, which is supported the Peel Group – owners of Doncaster Sheffield Airport – calls for the Government to explicitly promote the Shared Prosperity Fund for regional economic rebalancing and recognise investment in infrastructure as critical to the long-term competitiveness of a modern economy.

The report states:  “The strength of a post-Brexit Britain will rely heavily on multiple centres of growth, each
contributing more. A wider reading of the vote to leave in cities, towns and communities outside London and the South East20 indicates the depth of people’s discontent with the economic system. Investment in the fundamental infrastructure that affects people’s lives is a real part of raising aspirations and living standards.

“Rebalancing the economy is not going to happen by chance. It will require concerted effort and follow-through into policy content across multiple departments such as housing, transport and digital. This needs elevating as a Government priority and to be explicitly addressed in the formulation of policy. Equally, it needs to be afforded sufficient resources so as not to remain solely a focus in the narrative.

“That’s why the new Industrial Strategy, as one such example of policy, must devote significant resources to investment in infrastructure. Reflecting on past attempts at Industrial Strategy which resulted in “picking winners” and affording preferential treatment to certain industries, this latest iteration emphasises market-wide issues and the economic environment – the horizontals or enablers of growth.”

The Government is also being urged to recognise vital role of Mayors and regional bodies such as the Northern Powerhouse and Transport for the North, along with the National Infrastructure Commission, as important new enablers of regional planning and investment that should be used to help switch the emphasis from London and the South East.

The report encourages combined authorities to proactively engage key private sector players in their area at a strategic level, to deliver shared aims for transformational change. It also concludes that Metro Mayors should have strong statutory planning policies that promote, rather than constrain, economic growth, and calls for changes to the way infrastructure is planned for and appraised to increase the relative importance of rebalancing as a factor in investment decisions to encourage inclusive growth throughout the country, and particularly in less economically successful places.

Ben Lucas, Managing Director of Metro Dynamics, said: “We are all agreed that infrastructure is necessary for growth. However, the UK regions suffer from historical and sustained underinvestment in infrastructure which has affected our national economic performance and has had major consequences for inclusive economic growth outside of London and the South East.

“Without fundamental changes to the way in which infrastructure is planned and appraised – cohesively, ambitiously, and with a long-term vision – the challenges will remain.”

The report was prepared by Metro Dynamics and sponsored by The Peel Group. In March, Doncaster Sheffield Airport launched its vision and masterplan outlining the expected growth over the next twenty years which it says will deliver £3.2bn GVA a year by 2048 and create 73,000 new jobs.

Its vision sees the creation of an aerotropolis in the Sheffield City Region with the airport’s 1600-acre site, known as Aero Centre Yorkshire, becoming a central hub.

DSA says the ‘airport city’ would help transform the North of England, creating 73,000 new jobs for the Sheffield City Region and providing advanced manufacturing, logistics and aviation-led innovation opportunities. It is anticipated that the vision would deliver £3.2bn GVA per year by 2048 across the region.

The airport’s masterplan details the future development of the current site and projected growth over the next 20 years. It will now go out for public consultation. The airport is forecasting 4.7 million passengers and 70,000 tonnes per year over 20 years.