Member Article

Regional Growth Fund (RGF) will create or safeguard 5,216 North East jobs

The Government says the North East’s successful bids in the first round of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) will create or safeguard 5,216 jobs directly and 8,367 indirectly.

The region had 14 successful bids, which is 28% of all those awarded which is more than any other region in the country.

Five of the successful North East bids were in Teesside.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “This money will now help create and safeguard jobs in some of the communities worst hit by the economic downturn.

“Today is a step towards rebalancing our economy away from an unhealthy overreliance on a small number of industries and a few areas.

“We need to spread opportunity across the whole country, drawing on our many talents.

“I know that with the right support these businesses can work with their communities and together play their part in leading the country back into prosperity.”

Winners of the bids include £15m to help the Cleveland Potash mine in Boulby to expand and create jobs.

Lotte Chemical Uk has got £6.7m to build a new polyethylene plant at its Wilton site. It will create 55 direct jobs, and 300 more in construction. It will also safeguard 200 more.

Nifco in Stockton has also been awarded £1.65m to help it develop its business supplying car parts. In particular, it will be looking to expand its supply of parts for electric vehicles. It hopes to create 128 jobs and safeguard 158 more.

AV Dawson in Middlesbrough have got £1.2m to develop a terminal at Teesport to handle the biomass which will be eventually used to create fuel and food.

SSI, the new owners of the Corus steelworks, has got £1.65m towards training its new workforce.

Other winners were Bridon International, a steel wire rope manufacturer in Wallsend, Chirton Engineering, Connor Solutions, who manufacture electronics in Sunderland, Seaham chilled seafood supplier Cumbrian Holdings, Duco in Newcastle, Durham County Cricket Club, Nissan, Proctor and Gamble, and Turbo Power Systems in Gateshead, who are looking at innovative ways of charging electric vehicles.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Supporting job creation in the regions is vital if we are to drive growth in our local communities.

“We have received a large number of ambitious and highly competitive bids to this first round of the Regional Growth Fund, which will help a number of businesses across the country to expand and create thousands of new jobs.

“The Regional Growth Fund is a competitive fund and we wanted to see proposals that created jobs in the private sector, in areas of deprivation and that is at risk of suffering from public sector cuts. I’m confident that the successful bids we have chosen will deliver on this.”

However, Labour has been quick to play down the announcement.

It says the £400m given out by the Regional Growth Fund is nothing compared to £2.2bn paid out in grants by Regional Development Agencies in the final year of the Labour government.

John Denham MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, said: “By cutting funding for regional growth by two thirds the Tory-led Government is choking off the funding needed for regions to grow and create the jobs our economy needs.

“The Government is allocating £1.4bn over three years to projects, two thirds less than the £1.4bn a year Labour were investing through the RDAs alone.

“The desire to cut too far and too fast has caused growth to be revised down and the unemployment forecast to rise, all while Government is holding back support for businesses looking for investment which will help regions to create jobs and ease reliance on the public sector.

“There are more losers than winners with today’s announcement.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .