Regional infrastructure and highway development schemes will receive a £500m cash boost from the Government, ministers revealed this week.
The ‘growing places fund’ will be delivered through the 38 local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) which Whitehall claims cover 99% of the country. It is believed LEPs are best placed to prioritise local needs.
Ministers aim to allocate the total cash pot – from the end of January 2012 – through a bidding process, with councils working alongside LEPs to help remove red tape and barriers to growth.
Transport secretary, Justine Greening, said: ‘The growing places fund will let communities provide the transport links which get people and businesses from A to B.
‘This will be crucial in building the balanced and dynamic economy that is essential for our future prosperity.’ DCLG suggested projects that would qualify for funding might include new link roads, anti-flood initiatives, and dual carriageway extensions.
Officials have provisionally indicated the scale of funding that existing LEPs could expect to receive, pending successful bids. The regional cash estimates are based on a simple formula using population and employment earnings.
Liverpool city-region may be in line for £12.9m, the Leeds city-region might land £23.9m, and Birmingham and Solihull could receive as much as £14.9m. Around £40m may be available across London. The cash for the fund has been obtained from under-spends on major projects, primarily across the DCLG and the Department for Transport.
Chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said: ‘This is a flexible fix-it fund which will make a real difference on the ground, improving the lives of local residents and boosting the local economy.’
