Minister to offer enterprise funds

THE Government to offer funding to get Yorkshire’s new Local Enterprise Partnerships up and running in a move to answer criticism about whether they will be able to boost the region’s economy.

Business Minister Mark Prisk will announce the funding as he attends a summit of 100 business leaders in Sheffield, after continuing concern that the partnerships between councils and businesses will lack teeth.

The Government has been critical of the amount of money spent on regional development agencies, such as Yorkshire Forward, which are being abolished.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Ministers have been privately warned by Tory MPs and business leaders in recent weeks that the Government must provide some funding to get the new partnerships up and running if they are to help create the private sector jobs the coalition’s economic strategy is reliant upon.

Today’s funding will be on top of a £4m capacity fund announced earlier this year – which was aimed at building up skills, investigate issues facing businesses and drawing up action plans – and is likely to cover more basic administrative costs involved in setting up a new organisation.

The lack of any money for this until now has led to criticism from Labour and some businesses who have questioned how the partnerships will be able to make any difference if they do not have any resources to set up.

Mr Prisk is due to speak at the Sheffield City Region Business Leaders’ Forum today where he will seek to convince senior business figures that the Government can fulfil its ambition to revive the region’s economy.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking ahead of the event, James Newman, the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) chairman, said: “If the Government wishes to create a diverse, inventive and sustainable private sector-driven economy, in which our local business leaders are working with the public sector to drive local innovation, then it should look no further than our City Region for inspiration.”

Sheffield City Region – which covers eight local authorities in South Yorkshire, north Nottinghamshire and north Derbyshire – is one of three LEPs in the region, alongside Leeds City Region and York and North Yorkshire.

Today’s event has been organised to discuss future priorities, as well as how the Government can play a part in reviving the area’s manufacturing industries.

Mr Prisk will also be joined by Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, the deputy chairman of the panel that is choosing which bids should win grants from the Regional Growth Fund.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sir Ian’s appearance comes as he and former Tory cabinet minister Lord Heseltine, the advisory panel’s chairman, drum up entries for a new round of funding bids.

Seven Yorkshire bids scooped £47m of funding from the first round and £950m is expected to be spent in the next round, for which bids close on July 1.

The fund is designed to finance projects which can create private sector jobs, particularly in areas likely to be badly hit by public sector job cuts.

Sir Ian said: “The Regional Growth Fund provides an incentive to firms in places like Sheffield City Region to come up with excellent schemes that will beat the competition from elsewhere and help build a thriving market economy in the region. We look forward to receiving some very good quality bids from Sheffield City Region.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Lord Heseltine said: “I hope businesses and public-private partnerships are inspired to think about innovative and creative ways of making a difference to growth and shaping their economic future, and that we will see results of this thinking when we are assessing bids.”