Coalition to reveal plans to boost North East economy

Jun 29 2010 by William Green, The Journal

COMMUNITIES Secretary Eric Pickles will today unveil the coalition Government’s blueprint to boost the North East economy.

Speaking exclusively to The Journal ahead of the first meeting outside London of the coalition cabinet today, Mr Pickles said the national economy had become unbalanced with too much wealth concentrated in the South.

He declared the North East was as important as London and the South East, but stressed the region needed its own approaches to prosper.

Mr Pickles is set to launch a new Regional Growth Fund he said had been “designed with the North East in mind”.

“Looking back over the past decade, it’s easy to see that the national economy has become completely unbalanced,” he said. “Too much growth, wealth and prosperity concentrated in just one part of the country, while other parts of the country were neglected and left behind. For every private sector job created in the North and Midlands, 10 were created in the South.”

He said there would be “tough decisions” ahead to tackle “record debts”, but promised to talk during the meeting today in Leeds about how to “make the most of local knowledge to foster local enterprise, support local businesses and promote local prosperity”.

Ideas to be considered, said Mr Pickles, include simpler planning to support business development and local stock exchanges and he highlighted the Government’s plans to reduce new businesses national insurance costs for their first 10 employees.