Heseltine’s regional proposals lauded as ‘excellent’

The idea was one of the key recommendations from a report by former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine last year on unlocking growth outside London and the South East.

Lord Heseltine suggested that around £50bn the Government currently spends in areas that are key economic levers such as housing, skills, transport and business support could be put into a single pot.

Local enterprise partnerships would then be able to put forward their plans for growing their local economies and secure a share of the cash.

Mr Osborne yesterday described the idea of a “single competitive pot” as an “excellent idea”.

He said he wanted the Government to “give our great regional cities and other local areas much greater control over their economic destiny”.

In agreeing to the single pot idea, Mr Osborne has paved the way for significant spending decisions to be taken locally rather than in Whitehall.

However, the Chancellor stopped short of saying how much money will go into the pot.

There are indications that the Treasury’s figure will be some way short of the kind of commitment Lord Heseltine was looking for.

Speaking yesterday, Lord Heseltine said there would be a “battle” to loosen Whitehall’s grip on spending decisions but this was needed to set regions free and grow.

Cities Minister Greg Clark has already suggested the Humber could be among the first to put Lord Heseltine’s ideas into practice.

The peer has already held discussions with local politicians and business leaders with a view to creating a plan for the area’s future economy.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last week that the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership has also told the Government it is keen to pilot the idea.

The single pot would represent a significant increase in devolution from the city deals that have already been agreed by the Sheffield and Leeds city regions that have seen powers and money in areas such as transport and skills transferred to the regions.

The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership is currently negotiating its own city deal with Ministers focused on helping the area capitalise on the opportunities offered by the growth in the offshore wind energy sector to the area’s economy.