Action plan combines spending power to drive economic growth

Jun 12 2007 By The Journal

An ambitious plan has been unveiled to combine the spending power of the North-East's public, private and voluntary sectors and trigger a surge in economic growth. The Regional Economic Strategy (RES) Action Plan is an important milestone on the road to creating thousands of new jobs and businesses over the next decade.

It will help channel the resources of key partners into accelerating major economic growth. One NorthEast will invest around £240m per year over the next five years into the priorities of business, people and place - the areas most likely to speed up change and prosperity.

The regional development agency is working with other organisations to align their investment plans with these aims - and potentially billions of pounds worth of spending - to achieve maximum economic impact.

More than 200 leaders from the public, private and voluntary sectors across the region attended the recent launch of the RES Action Plan at Ramside Hall Hotel, County Durham.

Despite recent strong regional economic growth, to reach the RES targets of getting 73,000 more people into work and creating 22,000 extra businesses, economic output will need to rise by an extra £6bn by 2016. The RES Action Plan outlines the following key areas of activity to help hit these targets:

* Building a new enterprise surge by supporting more high value-added start-up companies and existing firms on the back of a revitalised enterprise culture - led by the new Business Link North-East and Local Enterprise Growth Initiatives.

* Boosting productivity and innovation in business by streamlining business support, increasing access to finance and investing in areas of strength - such as Newcastle Science City and Digital City, Middlesbrough.

* Creating 21st Century transport and digital connections to ensure everyone can take advantage of the digital revolution and working with partners to tackle a range of transport issues.

* Equipping more adults with additional skills to boost economic growth and launching Schools NorthEast to raise the aspirations of schoolchildren.

* Investing in the two city regions of Tyne and Wear and Tees Valley and their surrounding areas, as well as reinvesting in market towns and rural services centres.

The RES Action Plan details One NorthEast's pledge to invest £140m into the business agenda, £20m into the upskilling of people and £80m into the infrastructure of urban an rural areas each year over the next five years.

Margaret Fay, One NorthEast chairman, said: "The RES Action Plan is an important milestone on the path to achieving our economic goals and we have gained unprecedented backing from more than 100 partner organisations for the plan and its aims."

Alan Clarke, One NorthEast chief executive, said: "The RES Action Plan identifies the practical projects and programmes that can be driven forward to help the region achieve its goal of substantially raising its economic output from 80% of the national GVA average to 90% by 2016.

"It is work in progress. We have identified about £2.7bn being spent directly by our partners in these priority areas already.

"The big win is for all partners in the region to align even more of their resources to concentrate spending power in the areas that will speed up this growth."

Sarah Green, CBI regional director for the North-East, said: "Any good football team needs all its players aiming at the same goal. The RES Action Plan creates the vision for the region's economic players to unite behind.

"It integrates spending across public bodies and ensures public money is used to leverage private investment, ensuring more bang for the region's bucks." George Garlick, Stockton Borough Council chief executive, said: "The Regional Economic Strategy recognises a crucial public sector role, led by local councils, in helping to shape localities into places suited to attract and promote business and economic growth in the 21st Century."

One NorthEast spent six months in extensive consultations across the region to compile the plan which is underpinned by a strong evidence base. Paul Callaghan, chairman of Leighton, the Sunderland-based technology and communications group, Ashley Winter, chairman of the Learning and Skills Council North-East, and George Garlick were the headline speakers at the event.

One NorthEast's Corporate Plan and Business Plan were also unveiled at the event, which details how much the RDA will spend over the next five years in all its areas of activity - including helping achieve the aims of the RES Action Plan.

The RES Action Plan and accompanying Strategic Environmental Assessment report - which measures the impact of the action plan on the environment - and a Post Adoption Statement are all available on the One NorthEast website www.onenortheast.co.uk and hard copies are available free of charge for public viewing in Stella House.