Member Article

Marches LEP welcomes Chancellor's support of Heseltine report

The private-sector led partnership tasked with creating the conditions for economic growth in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, today welcomed the Chancellor’s support of the Heseltine report in today’s Budget.

George Osborne announced that the Government was accepting Lord Heseltine’s recommendation of a ‘single pot’ of funding, where the regions will be able to decide locally where the cash is spent.

Chairman of the Marches LEP, Dr Geoffrey Davies OBE, said: “The Chancellor took the opportunity today to show how the Government intends to implement some of Lord Heseltine’s recommendations. I am delighted that the Government has backed this radical blueprint for growth, which I believe will pave the way for a fairer funding deal for our region.

“We are an area of 650,000 people, with 28,000 businesses contributing £10 billion pounds annually to the UK economy. So we welcome the opportunity to decide locally, in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, which projects are a priority and are already gearing up for the bidding process.

“However, we need to see more about how the ‘single pot’ will be allocated and indeed, how large the pot will be. We would not want to see the Government apply criteria which which works against regions like ours, which combine rural areas with vibrant and growing urban centres.

“Quality rural-based schemes were under-valued previously when funding has been allocated, with the Government missing an opportunity to show commitment to supporting and enabling indigenous small business growth. This is the stuff that provides sustainable economic growth and job creation in areas such as the Marches.

“We look forward to hearing more about the single pot during the Spending Review in June and are already looking at how we can pass the benefits of this funding on to our businesses as soon as possible.

“The task of the private-sector led LEP is to put The Marches on the map as a significant, strategically placed and well-connected area for business and the Government’s support of Lord Heseltine’s recommendations will give us the chance to do this and do it properly.

“We are the only LEP in the West Midlands which actually has a Growing Places funded project on the ground – this highlights that given access to funding which is levering in private sector support, we are a partnership which gets things done.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Marches Local Enterprise Partnership .