Bernard Ginns: An age of self-sufficiency can rise from the spending cuts

Many towns and cities have had a fortune spent on them in the name of economic development under the previous Government. In spite of this, they are still too dependent on public spending for large-scale employment.

Some argue that the North needs a helping hand from the state to help itself. That is a patronising view that only encourages a culture of dependency.

Removing ill-conceived grants and questionable quangos might hurt in the short term, but in the longer term should encourage greater self-sufficiency. According to the Government, that rebalancing will be helped by the new 1.4bn Regional Growth Fund.

"Bids will be sought from private bodies and public-private partnerships and, to be successful, they will need to demonstrate how they can leverage additional private investment to drive sustainable economic growth and create new private sector jobs," said a spokeswoman from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

"One of the objectives of the fund is to help areas that are currently dependent on the public sector make the transition to private sector-led prosperity, so bids that show how they can help rebalance the economy geographically will also be looked on favourably."

Last week, I reported claims that Yorkshire will lose 600m in economic development funding over the next three years. This figure was based on the future projection of past funding for the regional development agency and the assumption that Yorkshire will be able to secure its relative share from the 1.4bn fund. The Government might question the 600m figure, but is not denying that less money is available.

My point is that it's not all bad. Remember, necessity is the mother of invention. The enterprising nature of the people who live in this part of the world should not be underestimated either.

As Prime Minister David Cameron told the CBI yesterday, the private sector must play its part in this rebalancing by reinvesting their profits to expand. As confidence grows, so will job creation.

Beyond simple investment, business has another role to play. Big companies can do more to help the country recover if they consider the interests of a broader stakeholder base than just their shareholders.

I know lots of companies have corporate social responsibility schemes, but these activities could be more closely integrated with day-to-day business.

Professional services firms, for example, have an enormous wealth of talent and resources at their disposal. Perhaps they could offer access to those resources to promising young businesses with growth potential. The recipients might end up being good customers.

Business schools have an important role to play as well. Academics could come down from their ivory towers and apply their formidable intellects to real challenges faced by real businesses as opposed to theoretical problem solving.

Banks could do more. Industry needs finance, of course, but the finance sector can find other ways to help.

Several years ago, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest ran a scheme in which they subsidised trips for Yorkshire entrepreneurs to meet with world-class business leaders to discuss their individual companies and challenges.

The entrepreneurs had to pay towards the cost, which had the effect of increasing the value they attached to the scheme. Several went on to taste incredible business success following the scheme.

In short, companies could and should do more to help the communities in which they operate. It will benefit us all in the long run.

Small businesses which are trading successfully through these challenging conditions are the true champions of our time. But they don't always like to share their success stories. Perhaps they are superstitious and don't want to tempt fate.

Whatever the reason, stories of business success in the pages of the Yorkshire Post help foster wider confidence. So companies are duty bound for the greater good to share those stories with us. A good way to do so is to enter the Variety Club Yorkshire Business Awards, which are supported by the Yorkshire Post and executive search firm, Hitchenor Wakeford.

Companies with a turnover of up to 20m are invited to enter the awards by sending me an email explaining why they deserve to win.

Deadline for entries is Thursday, October 28. Visit tinyurl.com/3yrzq77 for more information.