£160m investment in North '˜set to boost growth and close gap'

Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy was in Leeds yesterday to announce the brand new Local Growth Fund money, which adds to £1.2bn of vital infrastructure grants already awarded to the region in the past.

Speaking in Leeds at the site of flood alleviation work at Crown Point Bridge, Mr Percy said the new investment package – the biggest allocation for any of the regions of the North – was “further proof that we will back the people of the North with the resources they need to reach their full potential”.

He added: “In fact, across the Northern Powerhouse, people will benefit from £556m extra investment thanks to these Growth Deals to create jobs and infrastructure projects of the future.”

The funding announcement came on the day the Government published its vision for a Modern Industrial Strategy, which pledges to close the productivity and wealth gap between the regions and spread growth more evenly across the country.

Prime Minister Theresa May used her first regional Cabinet meeting yesterday to launch the proposals, which she said would “back Britain for the long term: creating the conditions where successful businesses can emerge and grow, and backing them to invest in the long-term future of our country”.

The new funding for Yorkshire and the Humber is being earmarked for a wide range of projects.

In the Humber, £27.9m is to be spent on schemes including infrastructure works to accelerate development of four key sites in Grimsby Town Centre; plans to invest £1m in strengthening flood defences at the River Humber in Hull, and £2.5m in regenerating the city centre.

In West Yorkshire, £20m will be made available for enhanced flood resilience packages in Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Kirklees and Leeds. Money will also be pumped into improving infrastructure to unlock sites and accelerate development in Halifax town centre and City Fields, Wakefield.

The Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will get a cash injection for a new business support fund to help more companies to export, and an extended Business Growth Programme aimed at helping hundreds of SMEs to grow.

Roger Marsh, chairman of the LEP, said the region’s total £67.5m allocation “gives us another chunk to support business growth and continue the programme we have already developed to help SMEs”.

“It also helps us bring forward the enterprise zone sites around the M62 so we can get businesses on there,” he said.

“We’re already well on track to create 36,000 jobs here in the UK’s largest city region outside London. With this latest tranche of investment – on top of the £1bn-plus we have already secured – we will be able to move closer to our goal of realising the Leeds City Region’s full economic potential as a driver of UK growth and prosperity.”

Coun Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford council, said she welcomed any investment in the North, especially in the Leeds City Region, but stressed that “obviously we would like more”. “Our ambitions are higher,” she said. “However we have to make the best use of the money we have got, and that’s what we intend to do.”

Leader of Hull City Council CounStephen Brady, said the funding for the Humber was “excellent news”, and showed that the area is “an important part of the Northern Powerhouse”.

Leeds City Council leader Judith Blake said: “This further investment in the region is welcomed, especially in further flood prevention measures. We will continue to work with Government on the development of plans for the further comprehensive flood alleviation measures that the city and region need.”

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