Cameron seeks to allay fears on revival in region

Employers’ organisation the CBI has spoken out after the Yorkshire Post launched a campaign calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to provide a fair deal for the region’s economy.

Experts are warning of a two-speed recovery as the South-East motors ahead while the North struggles to create jobs and homes for a prosperous future.

In an {http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/debate/columnists/david_cameron_i_understand_your_concerns_but_i_am_building_a_better_future_for_everyone_1_3614586, article for the Yorkshire Post today}, Mr Cameron says he has listened to our campaign and is “passionately committed” to getting the economy going again in every part of the country.

Insisting that he “understands” concerns about the North-South divide, he says creating a new Minister for Cities will provide a “powerful voice for Yorkshire right in the heart of government”.

“Just because the public finances are tight, that doesn’t mean we’re putting our plans to rebalance the economy on hold,” he says. “Far from it. I am determined that we should drive growth right across our country.”

He adds: “I have listened to the Yorkshire Post’s concerns, and want to reassure you of this – we are passionately committed to driving growth in every town, city and community in our country. Over the coming months and years, I want you to hold me to that.”

But the deputy director general of the CBI, Neil Bentley, has laid bare the concerns of leading companies about the region’s future.

He said: “In my travels around the region I have been hearing very strongly messages around the investment needs and businesses feeling that in the region, and other regions in the North, they are losing out and they haven’t got the profile and they haven’t got the people standing up for them at the heart of government.”

Dr Bentley said Ministers would have to look more closely at rebalancing the economy region by region and said the CBI will look nationally at which projects would yield the best return on investment.

The Fair Deal for Yorkshire campaign was launched after a North-South split emerged in the recovery, employment soaring in London and the South-East but falling in Yorkshire. A housebuilding recovery is similarly split.

It calls on the Government to tackle issues which could hold the region back – such as bias in transport spending towards London, the discredited funding system which sees more money spent on Scotland than this region and the growing power of the capital and Scotland while Yorkshire’s regional voice has been swept away.

As economic figures released today are expected to reveal that the UK recovery slowed or even halted in the last quarter, businesses are anxious about the outlook.

Earlier this month, accountancy giant PwC threw its weight behind our campaign, saying the region wants to play a key role in supporting the national recovery but needs the resources to do so.

Roger Marsh, senior partner of the Leeds office, warned the Government’s approach to economic development lacks both a strategic overview and sufficient investment and said that successive generations could be left with a huge debt burden.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond was in Sheffield yesterday where he issued a rallying cry for people in the region to voice their support for the planned high-speed rail network – which Ministers hope will close the North-South divide – before a consultation closes this Friday.