FLAGSHIP plans to create jobs in Newcastle have been criticised as lacking an understanding of how to help private businesses.
Liberal Democrats accused Labour’s council bosses of producing a regeneration strategy which they say at best copies on from previous Lib Dem policies. In December the council launched its Working City document, setting out how to secure new investments and keep Tyneside growing.
David Faulkner, leader of the council’s Lib Dem group, said there was “little sign of political leadership from the Labour administration since its election” last May.
Labour’s Working City document, launched by former foreign secretary David Miliband, includes promises to look at creating a living wage for lower income families, seek new financial powers to revive city centre regeneration projects and appoint Tyneside ambassadors to sell Newcastle to major firms.
The ambassador role was created when the council closed down regeneration body 1NG, and includes a continued role for its chairman Lord Falconer.
Mr Faulkner said: “We hope that they will be people who love this city and who will do this on an unpaid basis rather than like Lord Falconer who was given such a role, ill-defined, which will be remunerated but on what basis no one knows.”
He added further questions remained over the use of marketing agency the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, which will have a ‘business winning’ role.
The former council leader warned: “What does the Initiative’s role on this actually mean other than a glorified travel agent for foreign inward investment, a strategy that has been shown under previous governments to be wastefully pointless?
“Helping the organic growth of businesses located here and committed should be the top priority; otherwise we continue to be a branch economy.”
Last night Newcastle Council leader Nick Forbes hit out at the claims, saying Mr Faulkner had overlooked his party’s role nationally in undermining economic growth.
He said: “The Lib Dems seem to have forgotten that they are part of a Government which has wreaked economic vandalism on North East and dismantled all of the support which was previously in place to help firms invest and grow.
“The task facing Newcastle is to transform our economy into one which is knowledge-led and to do so at a time of massive cuts to the council and other public sector organisations.
“I have set out bold and ambitious plans to do this in a green paper because I want the views of businesses to inform our next steps rather than, as the Lib Dems did, to assume the council always knows best.”
A council spokesperson said: “We published ‘Newcastle - A Working City’ in December, specifically as a consultation and invited comments on a range of questions. We welcome all responses, particularly from businesses and business organisations and will take these into account in developing proposals for a better, fairer, stronger economy for the future.”
