Release brakes on growth, coalition urged

Ministers will be challenged to deliver on promises to rebalance the economy away from the South-East by investing millions of pounds to help the region remove long-standing barriers to growth. The wide-ranging proposals will aim to convince the Government that spending money in Yorkshire will save taxpayers money in the long term by cutting the region’s benefits bill while strengthening the UK economy as a whole.

Yorkshire’s local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are asking for support to improve housing, skills, help for businesses, transport and other key infrastructure such as broadband as they try to secure a share of the £2bn a year the Government is offering through its new Local Growth Fund.

They also are asking for Whitehall to allow more local control over other areas of Government spending. And from tomorrow, councils in West and South Yorkshire will form “combined authorities” which will see them working far more closely to grow their local economies. The Leeds City Region LEP is asking for around £230m a year from the Local Growth Fund to support plans to deliver 62,000 jobs by 2021.

Chairman Roger Marsh said: “This city region has the potential, the appetite and ambition as well as the capacity to accelerate growth for the whole of the nation’s benefit. For every one pound net we would receive by way of the taxpayer through the Local Growth Fund we will deliver £10 of economic activity across the city region. This is not about saying why would you invest in the Leeds City Region, it is about why not? That is our challenge to them. If you are going to genuinely rebalance the economy you would rebalance the North and the city region is pivotal to that.”

The Sheffield City Region LEP will ask for around £70m per year including £40m to help deliver a package of transport and infrastructure projects it believes could help add up to £7bn to the regional economy.

Chairman James Newman said: “Local decisions, made by local people will bring local benefits – which is at the heart of the LEP’s vision.”

Details of the Humber LEP’s bid have yet to be released but it is due to ask for support to deliver ambitions to turn the area into a hub for the renewable energy industry. Its ambition to help create 7,000 jobs was given a huge boost last week when engineering giant Siemens confirmed it will build wind turbine assembly and blade manufacturing plants in Hull and Paull. The York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP is expected to announce its plans tomorrow.