Consultation Responses

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Public and private sector partners across the North East have today (Friday 27th February 2009) restated their commitment to invest almost £6bn in projects to drive forward the regional economy over the next ten years.

The submission of the North East's Regional Funding Advice 2009 (RFA) to Government - part of a national exercise where regions set out their long-term investment priorities - signals the shared ambition of regeneration chiefs, local councils and business bodies to support almost £600m of investment in housing, transport and economic development schemes every year until 2019.

The advice also sets out how regional partners are working to support North East businesses and communities through tough current economic conditions.

The RFA process involves Government asking regions to provide advice on their spending priorities for allocations made in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007, as well as indicative projections for future years. As such, it gives regions greater freedom to align resources to reflect their particular needs and circumstances.

RFA 2009 has been led in collaboration between One North East, the Association of North East Councils and the North East Assembly. The advice has been developed in close partnership with key regional stakeholders including the Homes and Communities Agency, Government Office North East, the Learning and Skills Council and the regional business community.

The RFA team has also consulted widely with a range of other regional stakeholders including Higher and Further Education institutions, environmental bodies and the third sector to reach its recommendations.

The overall RFA 2009 funding allocation is broken down into four areas of activity:

• Economic Development - approx £240m per year
• Housing and Regeneration Funding - approx £190m per year
• Major Transport Schemes and Transport Maintenance Funds - approx £130m
• European Regional Development Fund - approx £40m per year (up to 2015)

Although the region has not been given any regional funding allocation for skills, Government has sought advice on this area. In its response, the North East is calling for the current skills system to be more responsive to the needs of regional businesses, including tailoring training products to specific North East needs.

The document confirms that a number of existing transport projects across the region will proceed, as well as prioritising a list of 'provisional schemes' which local partners are committed to progressing.

Partners leading the RFA will now work with the Department for Transport (DfT) to explore how these schemes could be developed and brought forward to avoid underspend if any Highways Agency or local scheme slips or fails to proceed. The region also wants to work with DfT to examine ways of preparing these provisional schemes so that they can proceed quickly if any capital spending is brought forward to support the economy.

Existing transport commitments include:

• A1056 Northern Gateway
• Sunderland Central Route
• Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor
• A19 Seaton Burn
• A19 Testos
• A19 Coast Road
• Orpheus Phase 1 - local bus service improvements in Tyne and Wear
• Orpheus Phase 2 - local bus service improvements in Tyne and Wear
• Morpeth Northern Bypass
• Transit 15 - public transport routes across Durham
• Tees Valley Bus Network
• A19 Moor Farm

The new provisional priorities are:

• Tees Valley Metro (Contribution to Stage 1) £30 million
• Tees Valley Action Area Plan (Phase 1) £15 million
• East Billingham Transport Corridor £4 million
• East Durham Link Road (Phase 2) £11 million
• SE Northumberland Public Transport Corridor £35 million
• A1 Dualling (part) £40 million
• NE Smart Ticketing £15 million

This latest RFA exercise builds on the success of the first round in 2006 which set out a programme of capital investments that partners agreed would make the greatest contribution to sustainable economic growth in the North East.

As part of this, partners behind the RFA 2009 are also asking Government for increased regional influence over national transport programmes in road and rail and also support for the Northern Way proposals for gauge enhancements to the East Coast Main Line to improve the competitiveness of Teesport and Port of Tyne.

In addition to transport priorities, RFA 2009 identifies investment priorities in economic development and housing and regeneration. Through the advice, the region has focused investment on those activities which will provide support for businesses and communities through the recession, while ensuring the North East maintains its focus on the long term ambitions for sustainable growth.

Highlights of the advice include the following:

In economic development, covering One NorthEast funding:

• Provide proactive short term support for businesses through the recession, including through increased access to finance and by coordinating responses to economic shocks and large scale redundancies through Response Groups.
• Renewing our commitment to supporting new enterprise and existing businesses by providing high quality business support and funding for improvement and growth.
• Continuing to work with the manufacturing sector to help improve productivity and efficiency and to improve international competitiveness
• Increasing our investment in technologies and businesses that will be critical for the future such as renewable energies, advanced healthcare, digital and software technologies, in partnership with universities and businesses through flagship projects such as Newcastle Science City, the New and Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth, Sunderland Software City, Digital City in Tees Valley, and NETPark in Durham.
• Working to attract inward investment.
• Supporting key regeneration schemes such as the Stockton-Middlesbrough Initiative, Gateshead Quays, Sunderland City Centre, Durham City Vision and Blyth and Berwick town centres.

In housing and regeneration, covering Homes and Communities Agency funding:

• In the short term, support the construction sector by bringing forward support for infrastructure projects, ensuring we retain the skills and capacity we need for the upturn.
• Invest in renewing our housing stock and in housing led regeneration, including through focusing in the short term on the Housing Market Renewal programmes in NewcastleGateshead and Tees Valley.
• Invest in regeneration and housing growth, quality, affordability and sustainability, including through the Housing Growth Points in North Tyneside, Newcastle and Gateshead, South East Northumberland, Tees Valley, and South and East Durham.

The full Regional Funding Advice North East England 2009 document can be viewed here.