THE government today signed off a £230m Growth Deal with Liverpool City Region’s Local Enterprise Partnership, with claims it will create 15,000 jobs. Thoughas yet there is no indication where those jobs will be coming from.
The money will also, according to the announcement, pave the way for up to 16,000 new private homes to be built across the city region.
ities minister Greg Clark and Robert Hough, chair of Liverpool’s LEP, signed the Growth Deal agreement.
The Liverpool schemes to be funded by the deal include:-
• A £47.7m package of improvements for six colleges
• Over £50m of investment in key transport connections into and within Liverpool City Centre
• A reshaped Liverpool Skills for Growth Bank – £4.64m over three years (between 2015 and 2018).
• Help towards a second International Festival of Business in 2016 in Liverpool.
Access improvements at Knowsley Industrial Park.
Robert HoughRobert Hough said: “Delivering our Growth Deal will be a significant step forward in realising our ambitions and the potential of the city region to became an economic powerhouse.
“Our Local Growth Plan is critically important for our economy as we seek to increase our competitiveness over the coming years.
“For instance, we have always stressed the economic potential of the City Region acting as a freight and logistics hub for SUPERPORT and are therefore delighted that Government recognises the importance of the £46.6million infrastructure schemes to support these ambitions, and the £52million to enhance the connectivity and attractiveness of the City Centre as a place to visit, do businesses and live.
“Additionally, our skills capital funding means we are able to invest to equip our future workforce with the necessary talents and training for the jobs of today and tomorrow.“
Earlier this year the Government announced a series of Growth Deals, promising £10bn to regions of the UK over the next five years. It followed Lord Michael Heseltine's call for £48bn to be devolved to the country's LEPs.
LEPs, including Liverpool, placed bids for money, and although £230m has been stated as the pot coming to Merseyside, only a proportion will be winging its way to the city region in 2015. The rest is described as an "indicative award " for 2016-17 onwards.
In addition to Liverpool, Greater Manchester secured £476.7m, Lancashire £234m, Cumbria £26.8m, and Cheshire and Warrington £142.7m. But of the £1.1bn North West total, just £330m has been confirmed for 2015-16, with the remainder classified as indicative.
Universities, Science and Cities Minister, Greg Clark, said: “It was great to be back in Liverpool to sign the Growth Deal which gives a £230 million boost to the City Region’s economy.
“This summer’s successful International Festival of Business showed that Liverpool is attracting the attention of the world’s investors. By improving transport connections, upgrading skills and supporting growing businesses this Deal makes an area on the rise even more attractive.“
The network of North West LEPs were created following the scrapping by the Coalition Government of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), the body credited with pouring hundreds of millions of pounds, mainly via Objective One, into Liverpool and Merseyside.
