£79bn bid to kick-start local growth

At its core was the conviction that the regions of England have under-performed for decades because the country remains one of the most over-centralised in the Western world, with far too much power and money wielded from Whitehall.

His central proposal, therefore, was the most radical devolution the country has seen in generations.

Lord Heseltine identified a large number of strands of public spending he believes would be better handled at a local level.

These areas included transport and infrastructure investment; skills training; back-to-work schemes and housing developments.

Pooled together with EU monies already being spent on “growth” projects, he identified a total of £79bn of public funds over a four-year period which he said should be earmarked for devolution.

His report recommended local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) – formed of local business and council leaders – should draw up plans for how to grow their local economy with housing developments, transport projects and training academies, and then bid for a share of the money from this £79bn “single pot”.