WIREDGOV

Local economies to benefit from £950 million of Government investment

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 31 October 2011

A Government investment of £950 million will help create and safeguard more than 200,000 jobs across England, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will announce today.

The second round of the Government’s £1.4 billion Regional Growth Fund (RGF) will support 119 bids from businesses and local partnerships with projects to expand their operations, create new jobs and attract private investment. Discussions are ongoing with a further 10 bidders about their projects.

Of the 201,000 jobs created or protected, around 37,000 will be directly created jobs, and more than 164,000 will be in the supply chain. The Government investment will support nearly £6 billion of private investment secured by the successful projects.

The RGF is a £1.4bn fund which is designed to encourage enterprise, growth and jobs in the private sector and support areas and communities that are dependent on the public sector. An expected 326,000 jobs will be created and safeguarded thanks to the fund.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:

"I am delighted to be able to announce this boost to business, which will jump start growth and create jobs that last in the places that really need it.

"This targeted support for businesses across the country allows them to expand and create jobs.

"It unlocks private sector investment – with at least £5 put in for every £1 of public money.

"People in the rest of Britain have been let down for far too long by governments in thrall to one Square Mile of it.

"The first pot of Regional Growth Fund money is already making a difference across the country - helping to rebalance our economy so that every region and sector benefits."

Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

“We need to be doing all we can to enable businesses and organisations to create much needed jobs and inject private investment into the economy.

“We have announced today that a further 119 projects will benefit from the fund, and expect to deliver a huge number of jobs across their businesses and in the supply chain.

“This is a very significant boost to local communities, and the Regional Growth Fund will help businesses to drive local growth.”

Lord Heseltine said:

“I’m confident that the exciting projects the Government is supporting today will help rebalance the economy and help local areas thrive.

“The Government’s investment of £950 million is supported by nearly £6 billion of private investment, putting businesses firmly in control of their own economic future. The independent panel and I have been impressed by the creativity and innovative nature of these projects, and I look forward to following their progress.”

The successful bids are subject to legal checks before they can be awarded their final allocation of funding. This will establish whether the Government is confident that the organisations can deliver on the proposals in the bid and be agreed through contract. The Government expects the money to start being passed on to the bidders in the spring.

Some of the successful bids include:

Research and development project to investigate the introduction of a new engine into the Bentley model range with a focus on the Chinese market.

Project to stimulate investment, employment and economic growth in Bradford city centre by incentivising investment in, and speeding up delivery of, Westfield Bradford and the Central Business District, complemented by wider public investment in city centre business rate relief.

Development of new kilns and firing methods using innovative sintering processes at Ceram Research Ltd, which can be scaled up for industrial use in ceramics industry.

A more detailed breakdown of the total bids received to the first round of the fund is available on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) website. Also available on the website is a regional breakdown of where the bids came from and their total value.

We announced in April that 50 projects in the first round of the RGF were successful and would benefit from a share of £450 million, subject to completing due diligence. These projects were expected to complete this process this autumn - the round is on track.

Notes to editors.

1. A list of successful bidders in the second round is available on the BIS website.

2. Regional fact sheets are available from the BIS press office.

3. Due diligence is a process that all the successful bids will be subject to.

4. This process will test a number of things, in particular the market and financial assumptions and risks set out in the applications.

5. Details of unsuccessful bidders will not be released. The government respects the commercial confidentiality of the bids received that were unsuccessful in round two.

6. Details of successful bids in both rounds are available to view on the BIS website.

7. When the bids were received by the government, they were assessed by an Independent Advisory Panel, chaired by Lord Heseltine.

8. The independent panel made recommendations to a panel of ministers, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, which made final decisions on which bids to support.

9. For more information on the Regional Growth Fund please visit: http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/regional-economic-development/regional-growth-fund

10. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See

Contacts:

BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk

Joanna Fletcher
Phone: 020 7215 5951
Joanna.Fletcher@bis.gsi.gov.uk