North super agency blast

Dec 9 2008 by William Green, The Journal

CALLS for a development agency to span the whole of the North and focus on Leeds and Manchester have come under fire.

Research group Centre for Cities said the next Government should consider merging some regional development agencies (RDAs) and closing others to cut the North South divide.

A Northern Development Agency should be created from 2011 to replace the current three RDAs – including One NorthEast – across the North of England, according to a new report by the think-tank which argued such an agency would benefit cities like Liverpool and Sunderland from being part of a unified ‘Northern’ brand and offer a more ‘strategic’ approach.

“It would build better links between the two biggest Northern city-regions, Greater Manches- ter and Leeds City Region – and create more space for them to take on more powers and deliver housing, transport and jobs.”

The Centre for Cities also said agencies in the South East should be streamlined or abolished. The report said in the first seven years of RDAs being set up, the South East economy grew by nearly 18%, compared with 15% in the rest of England.

Dermot Finch, director of the Centre for Cities, said: “After the next General Election, a single development agency for the North of England would be a good way forward.”

But One NorthEast chief executive Alan Clarke said: “This report adds nothing of substance to our crucially important task of supporting businesses and protecting jobs at a time of economic uncertainty. It’s debatable how much London-based think-tanks know of the real challenges on the ground that Northern RDAs and their partners in Northern cities and regions are tackling.

“We are very clear about the important leadership role RDAs have to play at this time of unprecedented economic instability and we will not be distracted from our task.”