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Newcastle named one of UK’s ‘core cities’

The Deputy Prime Minister has named Newcastle as one of the first ‘core cities’, in an attempt to shift power award from Whitehall.

Newcastle will now feature alongside Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Sheffield as one of the cities to be given greater autonomy by the government.

In return for this freedom, each city must demonstrate that they can provide adequate leadership and accountability for their area, as well as improving efficiency and being innovative in their approach

NECC Chief Executive James Ramsbotham welcomed the news.

He commented: “Those at the heart of communities, such as local councils and businesses, are best placed to make the decisions that will affect their areas for years to come so greater control over the setting of policy and priorities at a local level - particularly in infrastructure and skills - is a welcome move.

“Clearly Newcastle is an important part of our economy, but it is also a relatively small area of the North East and its priorities may not fit with other parts of the region.

“Clarity is required on how it will help other major towns and cities in the North East, how Core Cities will work alongside the Local Enterprise Partnerships and the role of business, which must be at the centre of setting Core City priorities.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .