THE leaders of Newcastle and Sunderland are almost fighting a "civil war" on driving forward economic growth, a key Government adviser has said.
Sir Ian Wrigglesworth, who is deputy chairman of the Regional Growth Fund and chairman of the Port of Tyne, said there was a “considerable mess” over the local enterprise partnership (LEP) set up to boost economic growth by bringing together council and business leaders.
Over the summer, The Journal revealed the battle behind closed doors at the LEP over where to place an enterprise zone, offering tax incentives to new firms setting up in part of the North East. Bids from Newcastle and Sunderland were put up against each other as unity within the region was apparently put aside for parochial gain.
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham, Sir Ian said: “In the northern part of the North East, we have had an absolute nightmare.
“I mean there is almost a civil war between Sunderland and Newcastle. Not only on the football pitch.
“There are tremendous rivalries and getting a LEP together in that area has been a nightmare. As a result of that we’ve ended up with a considerable mess.”
But the situation was completely different on Teesside, said Sir Ian.
“They have got their act together in a way that I haven’t seen for 20 or 30 years – really effective, really good policies, really good people, coherent and really getting on with it.”
Sir Ian’s remarks were last night dismissed by councils chiefs.
Sunderland Council leader Paul Watson, who played a pivotal role in bringing the £200m enterprise zone to the area, said: “I am unaware Sir Ian Wrigglesworth has had any involvement in the local discussions regarding the formation of our partnership. If he has specific instances with regard to the formation then he should ask those who know and he would receive an informed response.
“As the person who carried out these discussions on behalf of Sunderland I can say we never had a cross word. If there is any war on it has completely passed me by. As far as I am concerned we followed Government instructions to the letter.”
