Regional investment bank ‘could use public funds to help boost growth’

A study by the IPPR North think-tank will propose the idea as one of a series of radical options to revive the faltering Northern economy. The plan draws inspiration from the German Landesbank model, a network of regionally-organised state-owned banks.

A full report outlining how an investment bank for the North might work will be presented by the think-tank next week to the Northern Economic Futures Commission (NEFC), a body of experts and economist currently drawing up a series of proposals for kick-starting growth outside the South East.

Speaking at an NEFC event in Westminster this week, IPPR North director Ed Cox said the difficult economic climate called for radical thinking. “We’re going to bring forward proposals about independent financial capacity (for the North), we think that’s absolutely right,” he said.

“Whether we have a regional investment bank or other forms of financial instruments that will help the north of England, we are going to bring forward proposals around those.”

Labour is already calling for a British Investment Bank to be established to fund big infrastructure projects across the country, using the model of the Green Investment Bank set up this year to drive growth in the green economy.

IPPR North believes a regionally-focused institution could give the North further autonomy over the financing of its infrastructure following the historic City Deals agreed with Leeds and Sheffield city regions this month.