Member Article

LEP chairman calls for Liverpool City Region to seek further powers from government

The Liverpool City Region should be asking Government for the devolution of additional powers and spending responsibilities to help fuel economic growth, according to the chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Robert Hough.

Mr Hough’s comments came as he addressed a 100-strong audience of senior decision-makers at the LEP’s annual dinner for corporate members at the Hillbark Hotel, Wirral.

He was joined at the event by guest speaker Baroness Susan Williams of Trafford.

Mr Hough said the City Region’s Combined Authority, led by Wirral Council leader Phil Davies, was the government’s preferred model for effective governance and potential devolution of powers and was helped by having a strong elected Mayor in Liverpool.

He added: “Of all 39 LEP areas, only three have a Combined Authority which precisely matches the LEP area. We are one of those three. That symmetry provides simplicity of approach and the elimination of conflict.

“Top that with a strong elected Mayor for Liverpool in Joe Anderson and the City Region has the best possible set of cards to say to the Government: we have the structure, we have the plan and we have the projects. Therefore trust us with more powers, responsibilities and funding.”

The combination of a private-sector led LEP - the only one of its kind in the country - along with a robust Combined Authority offers a much sharper reflection of the needs and opportunities for businesses and the economy.

Mr Hough gave an upbeat assessment of the region’s economic prospects and said the LEP would play a critical role in driving economic growth. In the last five years, he said, Liverpool City Region’s economy had outperformed all other economic areas in the UK outside London and the South East.

He added that the city region’s economic assets were far stronger than almost any other sub-region in England and that many of those assets - such as those involving the port, logistics and energy - simply could not be replicated elsewhere.

Mr Hough said: “The City Region - all of us - needs to be promoting these unique opportunities with a consistent message to all parts of Government and also to investors: the whole is bigger than the sum of the parts.”

He went on to say that the region needed its ‘next big idea’ to continue the momentum of the last decade, saying: “We must be visionary and we must be bold. So I ask you all here tonight - what are the next big ideas that will drive forward economic development and create jobs.

“Where is the next Liverpool ONE? Where is the next Liverpool2? Where is the next SUPERPORT? Where is the next big Manufacturing expansion? Where is the next Cruise Terminal initiative?

“There will be new opportunities and projects but it is not just about the sectoral growth, it is about the quality and number of jobs and where and what those jobs are so that we are helping those in hard pressed areas.”

More was being done to back small businesses but there were still 18,000 too few such businesses in the City Region. We need to work even harder to invest in young people and give them the skills for the jobs of tomorrow in our growing sectors, said Mr Hough.

He added: “Throughout all this, our Local Enterprise Partnership will play an absolutely vital role. We are told time and again by Government: show us the plan, show us the projects, show us the support from partners, show us the outcomes and show us unity, collaboration and cohesive leadership.

“We have a LEP like no other because of its private sector membership model. So we can show Government all those things with the added credibility that comes from being a real voice for business as well as a governing body.

“We have done great things in the City Region in the last five years, but the best is still to come.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .