North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, the region’s local authorities and its medium-sized businesses will all have roles in delivering the government’s economic growth agenda, backed by funds from the British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund.
Chancellor John Healey, in his Growth Speech in Coventry, said: “I can…announce a new allocation from the British Business Bank, £150mn for scale-ups in the north – so that we get behind the most innovative and fast-growing firms, offering between £5mn and £15mn to help university spin-outs and other innovative companies across the north
“…and I am also announcing the Northern 500: bringing the north’s most ambitious mid-sized businesses into a single growth community led by the Great North partnership of mayors, led by the mayors, supported by the private sector and by central government.
“Across all nations of the UK, we will support local leaders to deliver local growth. And as the UK government we’ve already begun this work with those nations – making Aberdeen the home of GB Energy, making major investment in Welsh railways, and making investments in small businesses across Northern Ireland again through the British Business Bank.
Strategic partners
“…following in the footsteps of Richard Parker [mayor of the West Midlands]…I’m announcing that South Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, North East England and Cardiff Capital Region will all become the latest Strategic Partners of the National Wealth Fund. That means the National Wealth Fund will get hands-on – it’ll help these areas build their own investment pipelines.
“And because I know that strategic authorities [mayoralties] are only as strong as the local authorities that compose them……councillors in every nation will remain at the frontline of local growth, from housebuilding to high streets.”
The Chancellor added: “Alongside this, we need a strong, strategic centre of government, wired to enable those local leaders and their ambitions – succeeding where old schemes like Levelling Up have failed.
That’s why the Prime Minister has created No.10 North, led now by the First Secretary of State – No.10 North working with the Treasury to remove obstacles so that people and businesses on the ground can pull together to drive growth and productivity in their area…
…working together to be more decisive, and more effective in the areas that only national government can sort…including by convening the National Economic Council. [T]his is a joint enterprise between central and regional government, set up to drive growth in every postcode through a greater degree of public control and leadership.
Mayor McGuinness said:
“This announcement will help us achieve our ambition to create more good jobs in the North East. We’ll be working with the team at the National Wealth Fund on major regeneration projects that will visibly change the face of the North East, to roll out transport upgrades and to attract more jobs investment here. We’re showing what happens when we champion the north.”
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