Cheshire and Warrington LEP first bid for European money

The first steps towards allocation of European money have been made by Cheshire and Warrington LEP as it submits a strategy document to the Government.

The LEP’s European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy document outlines how the area will use £122 million of European money over the next seven years to grow the economy.

Christine Gaskell, chair of Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership said: “The submission of the European Structural and Investment Funds Strategy document is an important milestone for the Cheshire and Warrington LEP. Working with a wide range of our partners has provided us with the opportunity to develop a strategy that really does focus on those things that will help our economy to go further faster. We have had an excellent contribution from all of those involved, which has resulted in a strategy that all partners are committed to, and now want to get on and deliver.

“At the outset we were clear that the strategy needed to be evidence based to make sure that we focused our activity and investments on the things that will deliver the greatest success. We now have a very strong understanding of our economy, what really makes it tick, and therefore the investments that are most likely to deliver the best results.

“The European investment will therefore be strongly targeted on support for Small and Medium Enterprises, innovation, and developing a skilled workforce, as we realise that these are key to economic growth. Our strategy will help exploit our competitive advantages, and drive further growth in our resilient and diverse economy which is already the best performing in the north of England.

“We welcome feedback from Whitehall colleagues and look forward to working with them to finalise the European Structural and Investment Funds strategy, so that we can then get on and deliver it from mid 2014 onwards.”

The LEP Board is now working with partners to finalise the Strategic Economic Plan, which needs to be with Government in December. This will outline how all aspects of economic growth will be delivered in Cheshire and Warrington over the next decade.

Importantly, this will provide the basis of Cheshire and Warrington’s bid to Government to access the national Local Growth Fund, which is expected to be significant, with initially £2 billion per annum available as from 2015.