Fresh moves to bring economic growth

Business and Council leaders across the West of England are stepping up their efforts to bring more jobs and greater prosperity to the area. Working together under the banner of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), they are aiming to improve links into national government and make the most of the ministerial access and expertise of our MPs.

The Government has already signalled how seriously it is taking the role of LEPs in the drive to economic recovery by this week fielding an impressive line up to speak to a national meeting of LEP Chairs. David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Eric Pickles were all on hand to stress LEPs were a key element of their strategy. 

West of England LEP Interim Chair, Colin Skellett, was impressed and encouraged with what he heard: “The Prime Minister was very clear about the importance of LEPs in delivering the economic recovery.  Both he and Nick Clegg indicated there would be a range of measures around the budget to free up the planning system, reduce the burden on small business and create mechanisms for supporting business start-ups, all of which would be very welcome.” 

In the application to become a LEP, the West of England declared an intention of generating 95,000 new jobs in the area by 2030 and set an ambitious target of attracting at least £1billion of private sector investment over the next five years. 

To help make that happen, plans are being made for a small delegation to travel to London to meet local MPs and top of their agenda will be doing all they can to argue the case for greater investment in infrastructure. At only their second board meeting, members of the LEP expressed their delight at the recent good news on the transport front, which had followed letters being sent in support of five transport schemes and the electrification of the main line between Bristol, Bath and London. 

Interim Chairman Colin Skellett said: “We were really pleased to hear that the rail line is to be electrified which will improve contact with the capital. In addition, it was good to hear confirmation that all five of our local transport schemes are still in the running for funding. Our job will be to keep up the pressure on Government to help those schemes through what will be a very competitive process. We’ll also be galvanising the business community to add their weight to what is absolutely vital for our future prosperity.”

Members of the Board also discussed a range of other issues which will help provide the sort of fertile environment which will allow sustainable economic growth. 

“We want to see an improvement in our digital infrastructure so we have the best available broadband and we will be having discussions with BT to enable that to happen. We are also keen to ensure that the assets owned by the outgoing Regional Development Agency are used in the best possible way for the sub-region and of course we will need to position ourselves to ensure we make the most of the potential of European funding,” added Mr Skellett. The LEP is setting up ten sector groups to draw together business people with the drive and know-how to help promote economic growth. They will cover Creative; Advanced Engineering, Aerospace and Defence; Micro-electronics; Low carbon industries; Tourism; Financial and Professional services; Retail and Distribution; Construction and Development; Social Enterprises. “It is important for people to realise that the LEP can’t do everything on our own. We can help gather information so we know where we are, we can come up with ambitious plans for the future and we can help remove obstacles to growth. But success will only be achieved by the public and private sectors working together. We know that business is enthusiastic about the new opportunities and I am confident we will have wide support for our efforts.” commented Mr Skellett.

West of England Local Enterprise Interim Board members: 

Business members:

Colin Skellett, (non voting Chair) Executive Chairman of Wessex Water and Vice Chairman of GWE Business West,

Katherine Bennett, Vice President and Head of Political Affairs at Airbus,

David Sproxton, co-founder of Aardman,

Professor Joe McGeehan, Managing Director at Toshiba Research Europe Ltd,

Robert Sinclair, Chief Executive of Bristol Airport. 

Local Authority members:

Francine Haeberling, Bath and North East Somerset,

Barbara Janke, Bristol,

Nigel Ashton, North Somerset,

John Calway, South Gloucestershire. 

Education: Glynis Breakwell, Vice Chancellor, University of Bath.  

Issued by: Julia Dean, West of England Partnership Office. 0117 922 4580 Julia.dean@westofengland.org

 9 March 2011