Northern Powerhouse One Year On

The Northern Powerhouse

Just over a year ago I attended the Northern Futures Summit which was chaired by Nick Clegg MP who was then Deputy Prime Minister. The summit brought together speakers like Ed Glaeser, Jim O'Neil, Tony Trathers and Bob Kerslake as well as local politicians. entrepreneurs and even schoolchildren from across the region to discuss how the resources of the individual communities in the North of England could be pooled and coordinated for the benefit of all.

The shorthand term for this pooling and coordination is "the Northern Powerhouse" which was coined by George Osborn MP who, like Clegg, is a Northern MP. The concept was summarized by the Chancellor in his Autumn statement for 2015:

"The Northern Powerhouse is the government’s plan to boost the economy across the North of England. It is built on the solid economic theory that while the individual cities and towns of the North are strong, if they are enabled to pool their strengths, they could be stronger than the sum of their parts. It means investing in better transport to connect up the North; backing the science and innovation strengths of the North, so that new ideas can be turned into new products and new jobs; investing in culture, housing and the quality of life to make the North a magnet for new businesses and talented people; devolving powers and budgets from London to local areas across the North, and creating powerful new elected mayors who will give people in northern cities and towns a strong voice."

The Northern Powerhouse was a brainchild of the Coalition Government and Clegg and Osborn were its progenitors. Clegg is no longer in office but Osborn is and I am encouraged to see that he appears to remain committed to the project.

In his Autumn statement the Chancellor announced investment in public transport, science based innovative companies and the arts in the North.  A body called Transport for the North ("TfN") with its own website and logo has already been formed.

The Chancellor proposes to invest £150 million of public money in TfN's plans for a new smart ticketing system to allow passengers to cross the region easily by bus, metro, rail or tram.

As for science and innovation, he announced a £250 million investment in nuclear technology some of which will go to Sheffield and a new Northern Powerhouse investment fund to be run by the British Business Bank in collaboration with the local enterprise partnership, new enterprise zones, a sovereign growth fund for the North funded by shale gas exploration  and a £50 million investment in agricultural technology centres in York.

The timetable for the implementation of the Northern Powerhouse is as follows@

2015-16 and 2016-17

Key project starts:

• The first of almost £3 billion of Growth Deal projects get underway
• Launch of Health North
• Construction work on UK Collaboratorium for Research In Infrastructure and Cities hubs
• Investment package for Small Modular Reactor development and nuclear R&Dlaunched
• Accelerating £220 million upgrade to M6 Junctions 16-19

Key project completions:

• Electrification of railway between Manchester and Liverpool
• Appointment of Transport for the North’s Chair
• Interim report from Transport for the North
• Contract award for the New Northern and Transpennine Rail franchises

2016-17 and 2017-18

Key project starts:

• Construction work on Sir Henry Royce Institute in Manchester
• Energy Subsurface Test Centre, Chester
• Construction of National Centre for Ageing Science, Newcastle
• Great Exhibition Legacy Fund

Key project completions:

• First mayoral elections for northern cities
• Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre, Manchester
• Cognitive Computing Research Centre, Cheshire
• Mersey Gateway Bridge opens
• New East Coast InterCity Express trains come into service
• National College of High Speed Rail, Doncaster
• Investments under the Builders Finance Fund for new homes
• ‘The Factory, Manchester’ – a new theatre and exhibition space
• 2019-20

Key project starts:
Major roads investment projects underway across the North, such as the A1 north of Ellingham and A1 Morpeth to Ellingham

Key project completions:

• Northern Hub rail enhancements scheme
• £350 million Metrolink extension to Trafford Park in Greater Manchester
• Development in extending the capabilities of the National Nuclear Users Facility
• Improved East Coast rail timetable with additional and faster services
• Hartree Cognitive Computing Research Centre, Cheshire

Should anyone wish to discuss this article or the Northern Powerhouse project in general, he or she should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact form.

Northern Powerhouse Reading List

16 Nov 2015	BBC	Northern Powerhouse plan unknown to two-thirds in North	BBC website
14 May 2015	BBC	What is the Northern Powerhourse?	BBC website
7 Nov 2014	Eddie Copeland	Are elected mayors enough to deliver the Northern Powerhouse?	Policy Bytes
27 Nov 2015	HM Treasury	Autumn Statement 2015	Policy Paper
3 Dec 2014	HM Treasury	Autumn Statement 2014	Policy Papr
6 Nov 2014	Buce Katz	Manchester England England: Devolution U.K. Style	Brookings
10 Dec 2014	Jane Lambert	Let's Take this Opportunity with Both Hands	IP North West
8 Nov 2914	Jane Lambert	Northern Futures Summit	IP Yorkshire
25 Oct 2014	Jane Lambert	TechNorth	IP North West
22 July 2014	Jane Lambert	How can Leeds regain its Lustre	IP Yorks
5 July 2914	Jane Lambert	Power. Performance. Potential. Leeds Economic Conference	IP North West
3 Apil 2014	Jane Lambert	Creating a Northern Counterweight to London is good for the Nation	IP North West
3 Jan 2013	Jane Lambert	NESTA in Manchester	IP North West
10 Sept 2011	Jane Lambert	LEP Summit: My Impressions of the Day as a Delegate	IP Yorkshire
16 Oct 2014	Northern Futures	Open Ideas Day
5 Nov 2014	ONS	North of England Economic Indicators
6 Nov 2014	PWC	Northern Futures summit - PwC comments	PWC in the North
7 Nov 2014	Tony Travers	The Greater Manchester Agreement is only a small srep towards greater devolution in England	LSE, British Politics and Policy
7 Nov 2014	Paul Unger	Northern Futures: Promises Promises	Place North West

Bradford International Film Summit 2015

Berween 4 and 6 March 2015 Bradford hosted an international film summit consisting of seminars, screenings and other events on film and TV production and education.  According to the summit website, the aims of the summit are:

• "To attract increased film and TV production to Yorkshire
• To capitalise on the business opportunities in film related industries and services
• To create collaboration opportunities through international networks
• To further develop education and skills programmes and share best practice
• To inspire communities to enjoy and experience more film."

As my colleagues Thomas Dillon, Athelstane Aamodt and I have a particular interest in film, TV and games I attended the last day of the summit on behalf of chambers.  

I spent most of the day at the Film Hub North Roadshow at the National Media Museum listening to talks on Film Hub North's advice and experience sharing scheme, the Leeds International Film Festival, the Rotterdam International Film Festival, investment and other sources of funding and watching a number of films including Louise Osmond's Dark Horse.  Although I was there to listen rather than advise I was consulted on some of legal issues that confront independent film makers.

If anyone would like to discuss this post or legal issues relating to film making generally he or she is welcome to call me on  01484 599090 or 020 7404 5252 during normal office hours or message me through my contact form.

Further Reading

Jane Lambert   How the Law protects Film Making 30 Aug 2014 IP North West
Jane Lambert   Happy World Intellectual Property Day 25 April 2014 4-5IP
Jane Lambert   World Intellectual Property Day in the Gulf 22 Aprik 2014 NIPC Gulf

Jane Lambert   Screen Yorkshire Roadshow: £15m for TV, film, games and digital sectors 4 May 2012

Videos

Francis Gurry WIPO Director General Francis Gurry on "Movies - A Global Passion 17 Apr 2014
Steve Benbow  Video Wales  23 Oct 2013 IPO YoouTube Channel

LEP Summit: My Impressions of the Day as a Delegate

Yesterday I attended the Local Enterprise Partnership Summit at the Leeds Armouries. As you can see from the programme it was a very long day but also an instructive one. There were said to be over 750 delegates. Throughout the day there was a constantly updated twitter stream which you can find at #lepsummit2011.

Although the focus was on Leeds City Region (an area that includes the five metropolitan boroughs of the county of West Yorkshire as well as Barnsley in South Yorkshire and Craven, Harrogate, Selby and York in North Yorkshire) the summit was important to local enterprise partnerships ("LEP") everywhere. That was no doubt why Mark Prisk MP, the Minister of State for Business & Enterprise, was invited to speak together with representatives of the Manchester, Sheffield and North East LEP, the OECD, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Centre for Cities.

As I have said many times in this and my Inventors Club and IP North West blogs, the LEP represent a sea change in regional development For as long as I can remember regional development strategy of both major parties has taken the form of handouts from central government for big infrastructure projects such as motorways and universities usually administered by quangos in the hope that they would stimulate enterprise. And it just hasn't worked. As I observed in my question in a breakout session on infrastructure on what can we do to encourage a "Silicon Roundabout" in Yorkshire along the lines of the one in Old Street, businesses will cluster where they see advantages in clustering and not where well-intentioned planners want to put them.

The reason why the traditional strategy does not work was explained by Dr Enrique Garcilazo of the OECD. It is ironic that it took an economist from Paris to explain the reasoning behind LEPs rather than the Minister and the massed ranks of local and national politicians. Dr Garcilazo is author of the OECD publication "How Regions Grow: Trends and Analysis". Briefly, his research shows that central government spending on infrastructure and human capital development (education and training) in isolation are not enough to stimulate enterprise. If you build a motorway to a depressed region as was done in Southern Italy you simply make it easier for people to get out. Similarly, if you improve the education system without creating employment or business opportunities they will just find it easier to get jobs in places like the South of England or Northern Italy. There has to be a systematic and holistic approach to local development best managed from the bottom up that utilizes the competitive advantages of each region.

That seems to be the thinking behind the Leeds City Region plan which was unveiled at the conference. It is perhaps best summarized in the following passage from a handout to delegates:

"The LEP will lead a cross-sector, balanced approach to economic growth, and will build on the unique combination of city region assets to unlock the potential of our economy, businesses and workforce."

The handout outlined 4 priorities for the LEP:

• unlocking the growth potential of business and enterprise;
• enabling a flexible, skilled workforce;
• facilitating a low carbon economy; and
• creating the environment for growth.

The LEP aims to achieve a minimum of 2.6% GVA (gross value added) growth every year to 2030 and a return to pre-depression levels of employment by 2016.

Of course, these are very fine aspirations but they can be achieved only if businesses actually find a market for their goods and services. Mike Spencer, Senior Policy Adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce, displayed bar charts that showed that consumer and government spending had more or less flatlined since the start of the current downturn. Mr Spencer reasoned that if there was to be any growth it would have to come from exports. As the USA and EU were doing no better than us we have to sell more to Brazil, India and China. I mischievously asked the panel what exactly suppliers in our region had to sell to consumers in Bahia, Bangalore and Beijing. Neil Mclean the LEP Chair suggested biotech and IT. Mark Ridgway of the Rhodes Group mentioned all the things that his company did in India. The fact is that Yorkshire and Humber does not seem to do as well as other regions when it comes to developing new technologies with just 1,144 patent applications in 2010 trailing the South East with 2,810, London (2,584), East of England (1,984), South West (1,639) and the North West (,246) (source IPO Facts and Figures 2009 and 2010).

While all credit is due to Mr McLean and his fellow board members for staging this event I left feeling that they had a mountain to climb. One of the first questions in the manufacturing breakout section was "What about old technology?" Other questions were on what can be done to make the NHS buy from local suppliers. I had to intervene to point out that we were in a single European market and indeed a single national market where everyone was entitled to a fair crack of the whip. I detected more than a whiff of protectionism in the air.

Another depressing theme was inter-regional rivalry and dependency on London. One gentleman from the floor asked when Leeds-Bradford airport would restore its link to Heathrow. There is already a major international airport at Ringway connected by a direct rail service and the M62 motorway to most parts of Yorkshire. There are some things such as airports that are best done on a Northern and not just City Region basis. I think our LEP Board realizes that which is why they invited representatives from the other regions.

Overall I hope this project works and in my own small way I shall do my best to help it along the way. Over drinks after the conference, I met several of the young men and women who had been seconded by local authorities and businesses to work for the LEP secretariat and was very impressed by their quality and enthusiasm. I hope I am no sycophant but I am also genuinely impressed by the members whom I have met over the last 6 months such as Neil McLean and Mehboob Khan from Leeds and Philip Bartey and David Grey of Sheffield. They give their time to this project for nothing for which they deserve our gratitude. I just wish there were more representatives of the communities that they serve.

News of LEPs in Yorkshire and Humber No. II

I see to my horror that I have not updated this blog since 27 July 2011 though I did publish IP Yorkshire, the Yorkshire and Humber newsletter, on Yorkshire Day which falls on 1 August. A lot has happened since then.

Humber LEP

First a proposal by a consortium of local authorities and local businesses and business organizations for a local enterprise partnership for the Humber has been accepted. You can see the press release on Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce website. According to its proposal the LEP will:

"Co-ordinate public and private sector activity that is targeted at growing our three key growth sectors (renewable energy, ports and logistics, and chemicals), with the aim of developing an international-scale super cluster around the Humber.

Lead on 16-19 and adult skills strategy, particularly in relation to the key sectors listed above, to ensure that as many of the jobs created as possible can go to local people, businesses can recruit the workforces they need to expand, the aspirations of young people are raised and graduate retention is improved.

Take responsibility for the “Humber brand”, co-ordinating and promoting our offer for international trade and as a location for investment.

Lead on international trade issues to help more companies export their goods and services.

Lead on co-ordinating and identifying strategic transport and infrastructure priorities that will support economic growth.

Co-ordinate activity that supports innovation and enterprise.

Bring together partners where appropriate to bid for public and private sector contracts and funding.

Submit a bid for an Enterprise Zone in the Humber and explore any other opportunities that arise from new Government policy."

According to Lorna Gibbons, Senior Economic Development Officer at Poole Borough Council who keeps the superb Economic Development blog, the contact for the Humber LEP is Mr. Richard Kendall Tel 01484 324 976 Email r.kendall@hull-humber-chamber.co.uk (see "Everything you need to know about each LEP ..... contact and priorities (where available)"). I have also found a website for the LEP at http://humberlep.org/. Their postal address is 34/38 Beverley Road, Hull, HU3 1YE and their twitter feed is @humberlep.

Enterprise Zones

The last of the bullet points on the Humber LEP's to do list was to submit a bid for an enterprise zone in the Humber and that seems to have been approved within a week of being submitted (see the press release of 17 Aug 2011 on the chamber website and the announcement on the LEP site). The site will cover 375 hectares on 3 sites: Green Port (Alexandra Dock) and Queen Elizabeth Dock in Hull and the Able Marine Energy Park in North Lincolnshire. The sector focus will be on offshore wind OEM and it is hoped to generate 4,850 jobs in the zone by 2015. There will be £7.9 million is business rates savings.

There will also be enterprise zones in Leeds (142 hectares in the Lower Aire Valley) where it is hoped to 4,000 new jobs in low carbon industries and modern manufacturing (see "Leeds Enterprise Zone: Full Details" in Real Business) and Sheffield in the "Modern Manufacturing and Technology Growth Area" where it is hoped to create 12,600 jobs (see "Sheffield Enterprise Zone: Full Details" in Real Business).

For updates see Lorna's post "Enterprise Zones Update" of 15 Aug 2011 and the Communities Department's LEP and enterprise zones map.

Leeds LEP Summit

Leeds LEP will hold a one day summit to shape the Leeds City Region economy at the Royal Armouries on 9 Sept 2011. I have registered the course and will blog about it next week. The programme looks very interesting.

Other Articles

21 Oct 2010 "LEP begin to take shape"

30 Oct 2010 "Government's Strategy on Growth published at Last"

12 Jan 2011 "News of Yorkshire LEPs"

1 Feb 2011 "Leeds LEP Board Members"

21 March 2011 "New LEP for York and North Yorkshire"

12 April 2011 "Sheffield LEP: NAMTEC Questions and Answers"

9 June 2011 "Local Enterprise Partnerships: A Great Resource"