Now that we've had time to absorb the Chancellor's Spring Budget and have delved into the details, we can wholeheartedly welcome and celebrate the investment announced for the North East and the pledges made by the Chancellor for the region.
We all stand to benefit from the “Trailblazer” devolution deal for the North East Mayoral Combined Authority together with the potential funding of £100 million which will be key to unlocking other multimillion-pound funding streams. Shifting the power to the region will also ensure that in future we receive more funding and flexibility to make important decisions that benefit the people of the region. We can take the reins, bringing control back to the North East.
The money that is coming our way has already been earmarked for some transformational projects that the region has been working on, including the Crown Film Studios in Sunderland. After a high-profile and concerted campaign, money has been granted to transform Sunderland into a global hub for big-budget film and TV production centred around Crown Works Studios. This is phenomenal news for the city of Sunderland and the wider region, the ‘Hollywood of the North’ will be born, generating jobs and opportunities the like of which haven’t been seen before.
Another Budget bonus for Newcastle was £10 million towards a Health Innovation Zone, part of Newcastle University’s pioneering plans to regenerate the former Newcastle General Hospital site into a Health Innovation Neighbourhood. Plans include housing, green spaces, healthcare and educational facilities alongside research and innovation projects.
The Zone will be the first of its kind in the UK, designed to tackle major health and social challenges and to develop solutions that will benefit people not just in the North East but globally. The first phase of the site’s redevelopment can now get underway thanks to the funding.
A £58 million maintenance budget was also brought forward in the Budget to carry out essential work on the Metro system and a new ‘investment zone’ was announced for the North East which is hoped will bring in £3 billion of investment and create more than 4,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
Aside from funding announcements, however the budget overall was lacklustre.
The money that is coming our way supports pioneering projects and initiatives that have been devised and worked up here in the North East. The region’s efforts are being recognised, supported and rewarded with funding that will enable these projects to progress and provide a focus for the future. This is self-generated economic recovery. The Chancellor’s budget meanwhile did little to turn the dial on the economy. Instead, as was feared, it was more focused on the election, granting concessions for voters rather than businesses. There were few major initiatives to turbo-charge economic growth. The widely-trailed 2p reduction on National Insurance contributions was for employees, with no relief for employers. It is of course fantastic that staff will get extra money in their pockets but the budget went no way to addressing the structural issues facing the economy and leaves us with the greatest tax burden since the 1940s.
Our wish list of VAT cuts, extended business rate reductions for hospitality and tax-free shopping to boost retail were not on the agenda. Although they too would have to be paid for, they would have injected new life into a flatlining economy.
We welcome the funding for the combined authority and the investment in the region, it is all hugely positive but we still lag behind our counterparts in terms of infrastructure investment and we still have ground to make up.
All eyes will now be on party election manifestos to see which side is going to seize the economic bull by the horns.
Grown-up discussions are needed now regarding future investment in Newcastle, the region, and nationally to create a more stable and prosperous country.
Everyone is feeling poorer and the antidote for poverty is prosperity so whichever government is in charge after the general election will need to focus on sustainably growing the economy in the next five years.
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