WARRINGTON is involved in a bid to attract major investment to the area to boost business, create employment and transform the local economy.
The borough council, together with the Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester councils and the Cheshire and Warrington Enterprise Commission (CWEC) are bidding for a new Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The Coaltion Government has announced its intention to create LEPs – and the three councils and CWEC have not hesitated to join forces to take up the challenge.
Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, have outlined their ideas.
They said: “We are keen to encourage local businesses and councils to work together to develop their proposals for local enterprise partnerships. The Coalition Government is determined to re-balance the economy towards the private sector. We regard local enterprise partnerships as central to this vision.”
Robert Davis, chairman of CWEC and group chief executive of EA Technology is an enthusiastic supporter of the new proposals.
He said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us as businesses – we can help to shape the proposed LEP and make sure that it meets our needs and enables us to grow our businesses.
“With inevitable reductions in public sector expenditure we need to look increasingly to the private sector to help us drive the economy forward. It is vital that our businesses are successful and continue to support our residents and the economy.
“We should grasp this opportunity with both hands. In the longer term this will enable us to deliver our ambitious growth targets and really put Cheshire and Warrington on the map.”
Some functions of the LEPs could be to:
* Identify and address local economic priorities;
* Create the environment for business growth including planning, housing, transport and infrastructure priorities and ensure that they are aligned;
* Encourage and support enterprise and business start-ups.
Mr Davis added: “Businesses will have the opportunity to be really involved in developing our economy. These partnerships will be truly collaborative and will bring the public and private sectors together. If you are running a business in the sub region and have ideas about what the LEPs should focus on, then we want to hear from you.”
Expected later in the summer, the forthcoming White Paper on sub-national economic growth will set out the Government’s approach to LEPs in more detail.
Outline proposals for new Local Enterprise Partnerships are to be submitted to Government by September 6.
