On Wednesday the Chancellor delivered his Autumn Statement.

On Wednesday the Chancellor delivered his Autumn Statement.

Please see below the response from the NP11 - a business-led voice for the North that brings together the 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) across the North of England.

Cheshire and Warrington LEP also welcomes confirmation Warrington is to receive a provisional award of up to £9,356,342 to support regeneration. 

Clare Hayward MBE, DL Interim Chair of the NP11 group of northern Local Enterprise Partnerships and Chair of Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership responds to the autumn statement:

The Northern economy has major potential waiting to be unlocked. Evidence from the latest Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review, published last week by Transport for the North with support from the NP11, demonstrates the prospect of a transformed North to create an economy £118 billion GVA a year larger by 2050, supporting an additional one million jobs.

Bringing powers closer to the local communities and businesses is a key step in helping the North to realise its potential so we are pleased to see the deepening of deals in Greater Manchester and the North East with enhanced powers around adult skills, local transport and housing and to see devolution deals that give more powers and funding to Hull and East Yorkshire and to Lancashire.

It is encouraging to see a strong focus on energy security and net zero in the Government’s five objectives. This represents a transformative opportunity for the North. With major projects in the pipeline, our region is already attracting over one-fifth of net zero investment into the UK and the NP11 has published research showing how the right pan-Northern support could add an extra £6bn a year to the economy through clean growth alone.

The North already has a thriving life sciences, creative industries, and advanced manufacturing sectors and greater investment could be transformative for our region and the country, as supporting businesses to innovate and adopt new technologies are all central to the North becoming a key pillar of the UK’s economic growth and competitiveness. The Greater Manchester Investment Zone, progress on other Northern Investment Zones, and the more intelligent, proactive approach to inward investment announced in the Harrington Review are all welcome.

To maximise the impact of these measures, they need to be delivered with a strategic, place-based approach, rather than as a short-term, competitive process run from the centre. Increased public and private sector investment, could close the productivity gap between the North and the rest of the UK, ensuring that our region can compete globally for the benefit of the whole country.

With the right support, the North can be a major opportunity for UK plc. We’re keen to collaborate and partner with Government in ensuring the measures announced in the Autumn Statement enable that to happen. By utilising local knowledge we can be more effective in making the necessary interventions to maximum impact and benefit the region and the country.