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GROWTH DEAL
HERALDS NEW ERA FOR LIVERPOOL CITY REGION ECONOMY
THE Liverpool City Region
Local Enterprise Partnership agreed an historic Growth Deal with the
Government which will see £232.3million invested in the Liverpool
City Region. £45.7million of funding has been confirmed in the first
year, and as part of the Government's on going commitment to the
Liverpool City Region LEP it has provided an indicative award of a
further 186.5million of funding from 2016/17 onwards. The deal will
help to create up to 15,000 jobs, allow up to 16,000 homes to be
built and generate up to £30 million in public and private
investment.
The key features of the deal are:-
► Over £50m of investment in key transport connections into and
within Liverpool City Centre, revitalising the north of the City and
better connecting Liverpool's iconic waterfront to the City Centre;
► A £47.7m package of improvements for 6 colleges – equipment and
facilities improved at 6 City region colleges to ensure that young
people are properly trained for the jobs of tomorrow
► A reshaped Liverpool Skills for Growth Bank – £4.64m from
Government to co-invest in a reshaped Liverpool Skills for Growth
Bank which will support employers who are willing to invest in
training to source high quality training provision and to grow the
skills base in the City region, building on this successful City
Deal programme.
► Committing to a second International Festival of Business in 2016.
The Liverpool City Region Growth Deal is part of a £12 billion
long-term programme to revitalise local economies. The deals are the
latest and greatest example of the British economy being rebuilt
from the bottom up, and sharing the benefits of the recovery around
the country. Local businesses and Council leaders have been invited
to open discussions immediately on the next set of projects to be
funded, building on the momentum that has been established.
The Prime Minister said:- "Growth Deals are a crucial part of
our long-term plan to secure Britain's future. For too long our
economy has been too London-focused and too centralised. Growth
Deals will help change all that. They are about firing up our great
towns and cities, boosting local economies and driving growth across
the country. This historic deal means real change for
Liverpool, including major investment in transport to help people to
get to work and back business and new training facilities at 6
colleges, to help young people get the skills they needs to get on.
By trusting local people, backing business and investing in
infrastructure, skills and housing, we can create thousands of new
jobs. And that means more economic security, peace of mind and a
brighter future for hardworking people in Liverpool."
The Deputy Prime Minister said:- "The Liverpool Growth Deal
will create thousands of jobs, provide incredible new training
opportunities for young people, build of new homes and improve
transport links across the region for people and their families;
building a stronger economy and a fairer society. We're placing the
power and money in the hands of people in Liverpool who know how to
spend it best, making a real difference to local communities."
Robert Hough, Chair of Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise
Partnership said:- "I am delighted by the news from
Government. Both the public and the private sectors identified what
investment was needed for the City Region to accelerate economic
growth and create new jobs. The £230million awarded to us will not
only create jobs and stimulate the economy in the short term, but
with improved infrastructure, the City Region will be better
positioned to attract investment and ensure long-term growth and
prosperity. This announcement clearly shows that Government has
recognised that our work and structures here provide the capaCity to
unlock the regions potential as an economic powerhouse."
Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool said:- "This is great news
for Liverpool and means we can build further on the recent
transformation of the City Centre. The £52milion commitment to these
schemes will enable us to push-on with the next phase of our
investment strategy. Liverpool is an international brand at the
heart of the City region and a great place to live, work, do
business and to visit. I am delighted that we have secured bringing
the International Festival of Business back to the City region for
2016 which recognises the impact that the inaugural IFB has already
had in terms of businesses nationally and internationally as well as
the opportunity for us to showcase what Liverpool has to offer to
businesses and visitors alike."
Cllr Phil Davies, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined
Authority, said:- "This announcement is great news for our
City Region. As a City Region we have clearly demonstrated that the
public sector and private sector can work together to identify
priorities for investment. The announcement also shows that our
governance structure as a City Region is working and that by
focussing on the strategic projects within the Growth Deal we can
bring widespread economic benefit to the whole Liverpool City
Region. Working closely with the LEP, the Combined Authority will
ensure the delivery of the various schemes throughout the City
Region which will see us even better placed to secure further
economic benefits over the years ahead. Particularly welcome the
£41.1million commitment to skills funding as supporting our young
people into work is a particular priority for the City Region."
Cllr Liam Robinson, Chair of Merseytravel said:- "We warmly
welcome the announcement. The funding for the City Region's top
priority transport infrastructure schemes will ensure better
connectivity across the City Region and beyond which will not only
not only boost our economic potential, but pulls northern cities and
towns closer together, helping rebalance the whole UK economy. We
will now build on this by working with the private sector to
identify the top schemes for a Long Term Rail Strategy for future
rounds of investment."
Kate Willard, Corporate Affairs Director, Stobart Group, Atlantic
Gateway Board Member, and LEP Board Member said:- "The Freight
and Logistics Hub project is a critical component of both SuperPORT
and Atlantic Gateway and will be critical to helping the wider North
become an economic powerhouse. The investment in transport schemes
throughout the City Region is essential to create jobs and growth
and our overall plan is to see between 20,000 and 30,000 new jobs
created over the decade."
Amanda Lyne, Chair of Liverpool City Region Low Carbon Economy
Committee and LEP Board Member said:- "Liverpool City Region's
coastal location and low carbon and energy capabilities mean it is
in a strong position to capture and realise the job growth potential
from a low carbon economy. With our specific strengths in renewable
marine energy including wind, tidal and wave, building retrofitting,
waste and water management and hydrogen energy systems the Low
Carbon Economy is one of enormous importance to Liverpool City
Region. Today's announcement from Government clearly shows that they
also see the continued investment in the Low Carbon and Energy
sector in the City Region as one of the key strategic projects to
unlock the regions potential." |
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Red poppies
herald 'Green Cities' partnership as Liverpool charity Landlife sign ecological agreement with China
A project which is
promoting cultural and conservation links between Liverpool and
China was celebrated on Friday, 4 July 2014, with a special signing
ceremony in Chinese as part of the International Festival of
Business (IFB) at the Hub in Mann Island, supported by UK Trade and
Investment (UKTI).
Merseyside charity Landlife, which founded the National Wildflower
Centre, has set up a historic new conservation agreement in Kunming,
South West China.
The agreement was 1st signed in English at the
Opening Ceremony of British Week in Kunming in April, and coincided
with Landlife¹s trip to China to research and refine selection of
Chinese Wildflower species for multiplication.
The Liverpool China partnership will create a new reciprocal
wildflower seed industry and generate creative conservation projects
in China. This will allow a celebration of Chinese biodiversity and
enable Chinese wildflowers to be used in ecological restoration to
address problems of landscape degradation, and promote Chinese
wildflowers as an important cultural asset for City landscaping
projects.
The seeds of the project were sown when Professor Wang from Shanghai
visited Liverpool in Capital of Culture year and told Landlife's
future Chinese partners about the National Wildflower Centre and its
work.
Links with Kunming Botanic Institute developed after a visit
from Jie Cai, then Kew Gardens' China Programmes Officer, who came
to speak to Liverpool's Chinese community at the Pagoda Centre in
2007, sparking the connection to Kunming.
The Chinese Community in Liverpool is the oldest in Europe, and
earlier this year Landlife helped representatives and local
schoolchildren plant poppy seeds on the Tribeca land below the
Anglican Cathedral with permission from Liverpool City Council and
support from John Swire and Sons Ltd, a global company with
Liverpool roots which has extensive Chinese business interest.
The poppies germinated in time for the second signing ceremony, with
the bright red colour symbolising good fortune and joy in Chinese
culture.
The signing event was hosted by
Mayor Joe Anderson and attended by representatives from Landlife,
Sichuan Rungfeng Landscape Engineering Ltd, the Kunming Institute of
Botany and UKTI North West.
Celebrations were completed with a visit to the poppy fields on
Upper Duke Street, a performance of the Chinese Children¹s Youth
Orchestra and refreshments at the Pagoda Centre on Henry Street.
Richard Scott, Senior Project Manager of Landlife said:- "We
are delighted to be confirming the agreement today in Liverpool with
our partners at UKTI as part of the International Festival of
Business. Landife has pioneered Creative Conservation for 40
years, using innovative techniques to establish new wildflower
landscapes for the benefit of wildlife and people. This agreement is
an important step for us, and it is fitting that Liverpool, with the
oldest Chinese community in Europe and a pioneer of ecological
restoration, should be focus for this event. This is a very
exciting beginning for the beginning of a Chinese wildflower seed
industry, and shows China¹s commitment to combat environmental
degradation by using wildflowers on urban restoration projects in
the same way groups like ourselves have pioneered this practice in
the UK. National and international seed banks are important.
However, it is also important that seeds are put to effective and
reviving use, as part of a living landscape. We hope projects like
this will eventually create the Cities of the future, which reflect
biodiversity and a real concern for the planet and wild flowers."
Philomena Chen, Head of Asia Pacific Development for UKTI North West
says:- ³We are delighted to support the pioneering work of
Landlife both here in the region and in China. This is a natural
follow on from the creative aspirations of the British Pavilion and
Thomas Heatherwick's Seed Cathedral in Shanghai Expo 2010, for which
Landlife's partners in Kunming provided the seeds. Congratulations
to Landlife and the National Wildflower in connecting cultural and
business links between Liverpool and China with their innovative and
creative projects."
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