Supporting Growth in the South East Midlands Philip Cox, Director Local Economies, Regeneration and European Programmes, Department for Communities and Local Government

Context: Our Priorities Top priority - restore the health of the national economy Decisive action to tackle the national deficit Reducing the deficit is only part of the story Need to create conditions that will help business and support growth across the whole of the country

Our Strategy for Growth The Growth Review took a fundamental look at what we can do to help rebalance the economy Two core parts of the Strategy Get to grips with the deficit Get behind Britain’s businesses, remove the barriers to growth, unlock the potential, and support the job creation we need It is vital that the right environment exists to allow local businesses to thrive wherever they are.

New approach to Local Growth Previous models of local growth and regeneration are now unaffordable Need a more innovative approach – moving away from dependency on the public purse Our new role will be Strategic and Supportive Reforming and decentralising public services Removing barriers that hinder local ambitions Providing powerful incentives Providing targeted investment and reform

Incentives Incentives are a vital part of the new model: New Homes Bonus – a powerful incentive for housing growth inc new homes and long term empty properties brought back into use, with a premium for affordable homes. Community Infrastructure Levy – Optional tool for local authorities. Over £1bn pa nationally by 2016 from development. Local Government Finance Bill will provide the way for local business rate retention.

New Tools Commitment to Tax Increment Financing – up front borrowing to finance capital investment linked to increased business rate income Devolution of local transport majors to LEPs Asset management – making best use of the £380bn public sector assets to support growth Simplified planning regime Enterprise Zones Growing Places Fund – £770m to help stalled projects to progress

What does this mean for SEMLEP? Government actively supporting SEMLEP by providing toolkit and direct support if absolutely necessary Giving you the opportunity to work around an economic geography that makes sense to you Opportunity for SEMLEP and its partners to determine its own economic priorities and tackle them using tools available Opportunities for partners to pool funding and other resources to support strategic priorities and wider economic growth across the SEMLEP area And opportunities to link up with other neighbouring LEPs to support wider growth

Key Projects - East West Rail Commend the work of EWR consortium in progressing the project Autumn Statement confirmed the Government’s support for the project subject to satisfactory local contribution and business case Welcome SEMLEP decision to provide £1m from Growing Places Fund to help meet the costs of letting contract But delivery of project is dependent on £50m local contribution to overall project cost Early discussions have been encouraging Health warning – project cannot proceed without satisfactory local contribution and business case

Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone Northampton Waterside one of twenty four EZs announced Huge opportunity for SEMLEP to help create a new high performance engineering hub of national significance at Northampton EZ to generate wider growth across SEMLEP area Game changer for SEMLEP Opportunities to support other strategic growth priorities through EZ revenue And to pool EZ revenue with other new sources of funding to create larger fund

To conclude……. Commend the huge strides that Ann Limb and her fellow SEMLEP Board members have made in a very short time South East Midlands has a strong and vibrant economy and huge economic potential for future growth Opportunity through the LEP to really drive through future economic growth and investment The more you pool collective talent and resources behind SEMLEP the stronger it will be