Member Article

Centralised governing will not address growth, warns Bernstein

Sir Howard Bernstein has warned the Government that it can not address all growth ambitions from Whitehall.

The Manchester City Council CEO was speaking to business leaders in Manchester Town Hall, at an event organised by Willmott Dixon, where he set out the city’s ambitions to remain one of the world’s top 100 cities.

Sir Howard said the Government must recognise the country is divided into 8-9 local labour markets, and growth cannot all be driven from a centralised approach.

He said: “It has to be a locally tailored solution with a real spatial focus and our team at Manchester are working closely with colleagues at other local authorities within the Greater Manchester area to drive growth by reforming our public model to take more people away from benefit dependency and reduce duplication and red tape that inhibits private investment.”

Elsewhere in his address, Sir Howard talked about spending of £1.2bn in Greater Manchester on infrastructure improvement and also noted an innovative deal struck with the Government, that allows this investment to be “earned back” as the local economy grows.

Money earned back would then be invested into further projects, as the chief executive said new investment models were being developed to encourage private sector development, including public sector land and assets.

He added: “People and skills are absolutely the focus for us. It’s about working with private sector partners to increase the numbers of people in our city who have the opportunity to make more of an economic contribution to our growth.

“That includes equipping people with the right skills needed by our city and creating an environment to attract and retain skilled young people who come to study here.”

Manchester is currently ranked 63rd in an index of world cities, and Sir Howard used his address to outline how the city should be equipped to face growing competition from cities in the likes of China.

The event aimed to explore opportunities within the current Localism Act for Manchester, and also featured a number of other speakers.

Environmental campaigner, Jonathon Porritt said China aimed to take a 40% slice of the growing market for low-carbon and renewable technology.

David Roberts, deputy CEO at developer Igloo, also spoke about the role of companies in bringing property investment forward, while Willmott Dixon Capital Works CEO John Frankiewicz unveiled research findings into local authorities’ attitude to investment and growth following Localism Act.

Willmott Dixon’s managing director in Manchester, Anthony Dillon, said, “Sir Howard’s points paved the way for a frank and productive discussion among businesses, housing providers and local authorities that invest in property and create wealth to see how we can meet Manchester’s needs to be competitive in the 21st century.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .