Member Article

City Deal announcement "massive economic milestone"

Sir Peter Rigby, chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP (CWLEP), said the Government’s decision to move the area forward to the next stage of City Deal status was a “massive economic milestone” for the area.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) led the City Deal bid called Re-engineering Engineering: Raising our Game with the united support of all local authorities in the area.

The bid was designed to drive the economy by improving skills, innovation, productivity and jobs building on the area’s strength in engineering and manufacturing and today it was given the green light by the Government.

Sir Peter said: “This is great news for Coventry and Warwickshire and allows us to put our very exciting plans into place to do just what the LEP was established to do – to create jobs and economic growth and prosperity.

“We are delighted we were able to bring so many key partners together to help formulate the bid.

“It has meant that we could deliver a unified, coherent and compelling case for the whole of the area, and our concentration on engineering and manufacturing capability and skills has obviously struck a chord.

“I feel that the LEP has gained real momentum in recent months and this is a very notable success.

“We now want to turn those plans into reality with the same unified approach which has brought us this Government approval.”

Cllr John Mutton, Leader of Coventry City Council and CW LEP board member, said: “This is great news and the hard work starts now. We must grasp this opportunity to make a real difference to economic activity across the sub-region and we are pleased that the Government has shown faith in our City Deal as we make this become a reality.”

Cllr Craig Humphrey, Leader of Rugby Borough Council and the representative of all district councils on the CW LEP board, said: “Districts across Warwickshire will undoubtedly feel the benefit from the City Deal and the engineering industry throughout our area will benefit massively. This is a plan which will have a long lasting effect on the economic health of the area.”

Cllr Alan Farnell, leader of Warwickshire County Council and CW LEP board member, said: “This is an example of the area working in partnership and it will lead to tangible benefits for companies and workers in our sub-region.

“The City Deal is an opportunity which we must all grasp to drive the economy forward using and developing our existing skills base.”

The blueprint to launch a G-AME (Growth of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering) Changer Programme later this year as part of the CW City Deal highlights many of the LEP’s goals for growth including.

• Providing 5,000 new engineers over the next two years and eliminating the City Deal area’s engineering skills shortage by 2020

• Encouraging 25 per cent of Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise (AME) businesses to invest in research and development

• Eliminating the productivity gap by 2020 through investment and support for advanced manufacturing with an aspiration for 20 per cent growth

• Increasing the net number of jobs in the area by 30,000 and raising the proportion of workforce employed in key sectors to 25 per cent by 2020.

The City Deal has been devised by the Government to give cities and areas the powers and tools they need to drive local economic growth, unlock projects or initiatives to boost their economies and strengthen their governance arrangements.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership .