The Solent LEP has submitted its Strategic Economic Plan for the area to Government, a new investment strategy which brings together:
· Local assets to unlock resources to be re invested in growth, including the Southampton- Portsmouth City Deal – a £953m investment plan.
· The Solent LEP European Union Structural and Investment Fund Strategy – valued at £73.6m including private and public sector match funding.
· Local Growth Deal – a £1.85 bn proposal, including £102m of local public funding and £1.43 bn private sector leverage, with £305m sought from the Local Growth Fund, of which £103.2m will be sought in 2015/16.
Developed through extensive consultation with local stakeholders, the ambitious plan is the key to unlocking a Local Growth Deal for the region and will form the basis of the Solent’s negotiation with Government in the coming months.
The plan aims to position the Solent economy to compete on an international stage and, within the broader vision, contains clear objectives to:
· Maximise the impact of the economic assets in the area and sectors with the potential for growth; promoting the area as the UK’s leading growth hub for advanced manufacturing, marine and aerospace;
· Unlock critical employment sites to enable Solent businesses to expand; particularly in the marine, maritime and advanced manufacturing sectors;
· Enable new housing to support a growing workforce;
· Ensure people have the right skills to access employment and support our growing sectors;
· Provide effective support to Solent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enable them to grow, and;
· Unlock innovation led growth to engage more businesses in knowledge exchange and develop links to wider Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
The Plan combines high profile strategic flagship projects, a series of funding asks and a range of flexibilities that together will deliver the vision. At its heart, the plan is capital-led and contains a number of major employment sites, including the Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus, as well as exciting proposals for 5 new skills centres, in partnership with Solent Colleges, Universities, Local Authorities and the private sector.
Gary Jeffries, Chairman of the Solent LEP, said:
“Our new Growth Plan contains some ambitious targets, including creation of an additional 15,500 new jobs, start-up of 1000 new businesses and build of 24,000 homes in the Solent by 2020. In order to achieve this, we need transformational change. We are developing an investment plan worth £2.8bn, alongside new freedoms and flexibilities to bring forward additional local investment. We will bring forward a Local Growth Deal proposal with an ambitious plan which if successful will exceed our growth targets.
But none of this is achievable without the active support of our local partners. Transformational change requires us to have all hands on board. Thus we are pleased that the ambitions and priorities for action set out in this plan have the wholehearted support of local partners. They have committed to deliver these ambitions in the years ahead, through combining resources, joint planning arrangements and joint investment strategies.”
The Minister for Cities, the Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, said:
“The Government welcomes the Strategic Economic Plan that Solent LEP has published today and looks forward to continued engagement with local civic and business leaders over the next few months on the negotiation of their Growth Deal.
The Growth Deal provides a fantastic opportunity for Solent LEP to seek freedoms, flexibilities and influence over resources from government, and a share of the Local Growth Fund to put towards their the growth priorities set out in this Strategic Economic Plan. This provides the opportunity to unleash the ambition and creativity of Solent’s local leaders, by devolving resource and responsibility in return for compelling local economic leadership in pursuit of growth.”
A decision on the plan is expected in the summer, with the first funds expected to go live in 2015.
A copy of the Solent Strategic Economic Plan is available for download now at: http://solentlep.org.uk/uploads/documents/Solent_Strategic_Economic_Plan.pdf
