Member Article

Budget 2013 reaction - Coventry and Warwickshire LEP

Sir Peter Rigby, chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, believes that measures announced in the budget reaffirm how important it is for major infrastructure projects to be delivered.

Chancellor George Osborne announced a £3 billion investment in infrastructure projects from 2015 and a host of home buyer incentives in a bid to stimulate construction and development.

Sir Peter is confident that those measures, along with acceptance of Lord Heseltine’s single pot local growth fund – details of which will be unveiled in the summer – will help larger development projects move quicker.

He said: “It is widely accepted that infrastructure projects are needed to be delivered and quickly. We have made great progress in Coventry and Warwickshire in terms of attracting funding and streamlining planning processes because we see development as key to helping boost prosperity.

“Homebuilders will also only be creating homes if they think people are able to access the finance, so the shared equity packages are also be welcomed.”

Sir Peter also believed that some measures in the budget would help the area’s successful engineering and manufacturing sector – which is the cornerstone of the LEP-led City Deal bid.

“We certainly welcome not only the changes in R&D credit but also the incentives for companies to take on new staff,” he said.

“Of course there is always more that can be done, but we realise the severity of the overall economic environment. What the Government has made clear is that they expect the regions to help drive forward their economies and that is what we are doing here in Coventry and Warwickshire.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Pete Squires .