Adonis lays out grand design for North East

Lord Andrew Adonis joined a panel of experts to launch the North East Independent Economic Review (NEIR) which states that 60,000 new jobs can be created in the region.

The former transport and education minister led the economic review team in six months of work to create the NEIR .

Key to the report’s manifesto is the creation of more and better jobs in the region and in his speech Lord Adonis stated that 60,000 extra private sector jobs could be created ‘if the region’s strengths are fully mobilised.’

In his speech Lord Adonis celebrated the region’s natural resources and public and cultural institutions but highlighted the challenges faced by the North East.

Among them were a lack of good jobs; a weak educational and skills base; and losing out on talent, and tourism by hiding away rural, cultural and tourist assets.

Poor transport connections were blamed for the North East’s isolation both within the UK and internationally.

The report advises that the seven local authorities in the North East form a ‘Combined Authority’ to work with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership to deliver their proposals.

The partnership will work together to create and manage ’North East International, ‘Transport North East’ and ‘Skills North East.’

‘North East International’ will work to promote the region both home and abroad, it will build on the LEP’s leading export success and international investment to produce worldwide focus on inward investment, talent and trade in the area.

The report also recommended establishing three ‘Innovation and Growth Centres’ to energise universities, graduates and companies to set up new businesses. The scheme, focusing on advanced manufacturing, life sciences and marine energy and services is aimed at retaining the best graduates and post-graduates in the North East.

The proposed British Business Bank or a Regional Business Bank will help business access finance more easily. It will also create a mechanism to help smaller, fast growing firms access the large chunks of funds they need to move forwards.

To address high levels of NEETs in the region, the report recommends doubling youth apprenticeships and advises universities to establish University Technical Colleges for 14-19 year olds.

To improve the region’s transport infrastructure, the report recommended implementing smartcard ticketing, similar to London’s Oyster card.

To improve connectivity and boost growth the report also proposed setting up flights from Newcastle to the US, a more frequent Newcastle-London train service and eradicating bottlenecks on the A1 and A19.

The economic review panel, consisting of Heidi Mottram, Don Curry, Bridget Rosewell, Will Hutton and Jonathan Ruffer voted to set up the Combined Authority which is set to come into force by April 1 2014.

Speaking to Bdaily after the launch, Lord Adonis said: “One positive thing that small business can do is to create apprenticeships and work with the chamber of commerce to establish apprenticeships so that they improve their own business and also help improve skills across the region.

“Gregg Clark [financial secretary to the treasury] has given a warm statement of support and I’m confident that the Government will support this.

“It requires a devolution of funding but not necessarily new funding.

“I’m confident we can make it happen.”

Paul Woolston, Chair of NELEP, said: “We lack a bit of self confidence to promote ourselves, a lot of the other regions in the UK would kill for what we’ve got.

“There’s a lot of potential here and the proposals will better improve out chances to capture those opportunities.

“I think to secure the funding is there’s funding needed, one of the key objectives of the review is how important it is for the North East to work together, if we do that there’s more chance of things happening.”