Member Article

Seven steps to creating North East jobs

LAST week, I called for a regional marketing arm to support the proposed North East Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership.

And, lo and behold, within hours I received a paper produced by the seven local authorities (the LA7 Leadership Board) titled Creating the right governance for growth in the North East. This stipulates that the seven local authorities (Durham, Sunderland, South Tyneside, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland) are committed to working collaboratively.

They intend, under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, to establish a statutory body which hopes to operate with devolved powers to support a shared vision for economic growth in the North East. I have, over the years, challenged decision-makers to act collaboratively.

Now we have the start of a change that can bring the region significant benefits, especially if the public and private sectors work fully together.

The LA7 Leadership Board wishes the Combined Authority to manage scarce resources effectively, prioritise the highest value programmes and to respond to the challenges that have emerged from the North East Independent Economic Review.

It hopes to create the best possible conditions for growth in jobs, investment and living standards to make the North East an excellent location for business, to prioritise and deliver high-quality infrastructure, to raise skill levels of people and to benefit from economic growth.

Interestingly, I received another paper last week from the Centre for Cities, an independent economic think tank. Titled Ways and Means by Zach Wilcox and Joe Darling, it identifies a weakness in the Government’s local strategy. In summary, the amount a city has to spend will increasingly depend on revenues generated by local economic growth and of the rest Whitehall not only determines more than 60% of local government budgets but also sets rules on how it can be spent.

The paper says cities could be left in the precarious position of having more responsibility for their local facilities without the tools they need to grow.

Where the LA7 paper falls short is in not confirming there will be a combined office for the marketing of the region to attract much-needed inward investors.

I think the majority of business leaders in the North East think it is an essential first step and would be a very powerful weapon in the battle to drive economic growth and create jobs. Of course, what we market ourselves AS is another question but one that needs to be tackled with just as much rigour.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kevan Carrick .