LEP Plans for Growth
News release
8th November 2013
The first phase of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP’s plans to bid for a share of £2 billion has been outlined at its second annual Business Summit.
Around 160 people have today (Friday 8th November) heard details of the plan, which will determine the share of funding given to the LEP by central Government as a way to devolve spending powers to a local level.
Plans include driving growth in the area’s three most competitive sectors of agri-food, manufacturing and the visitor economy; nurturing the growing sectors including care and ports and logistics; ensuring the local economy can adapt to future changes; investing in infrastructure; and recognising the opportunities housing growth can bring.
Speaking at the event, LEP Chair Ursula Lidbetter MBE said: “Growth plans will be sound, long-term plans based on current economic circumstances – but that is not to say that we won’t adapt our economy to changing situations, ensuring we take that leap into the future.
“Our plans will define links between the LEP, existing provision, the private and public sector, academic institutions and intermediaries. We want to put Greater Lincolnshire on the map and the Growth Plan will be our route to working with central Government when it comes to Growth Deals, the Single Growth Fund and EU Funding.
“We’re engaging with 100 businesses to hear what they think, and over 20 other groups and professional bodies. But that plan needs input from everyone, so we’re inviting all businesses to have their say by getting in touch and telling us if they think we have got our priorities right.”
The final document will be submitted by March 2014, with funding expected to be handed down by 2015.
Delegates at the event at DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln also heard from keynote speaker Roland Aurich, CEO of Siemens PLC. He talked about Lincolnshire being a key hub for manufacturing and encouraged businesses to be enterprising.
Exhibitors included the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, onlincolnshire, Business Lincolnshire, Sustain, the Lincolnshire Investment Network, Federation of Small Businesses and the University of Lincoln.
The free summit also gave businesses across Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire the chance to hear about what work the LEP has been doing over the past two years, including backing £25 million of successful Regional Growth Fund bids and making its first award of £2.9 million from the Invest and Grow fund.
Those not at the event were kept up to date on Twitter via the hashtag #GLLEPsummit. If you would like to have your say on the Growth Plan, email enquiries@greaterlincolnshirelep.co.uk with the subject heading Growth Plan.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
About the Greater Lincolnshire LEP
- The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership is a private and public sector partnership led by the private sector which aims to improve conditions for infrastructure and doing business in the Greater Lincolnshire area.
- One of the first LEPs to be established in the UK, the Greater Lincolnshire LEP covers a large geographical area with a population of over one million and a diverse range of industries, from ports and logistics to farming, tourism and engineering.
- It includes North and North-East Lincolnshire and the administrative county of Lincolnshire and is controlled by a LEP board made up of leading figures in the public and private sector.
- Visit www.greaterlincolnshirelep.co.uk for details on the LEP
- The £2bn pot is called the Single Local Growth Fund. The fund is a result of Lord Heseltine’s review, No Stone Unturned, which is available to view here http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/BISCore/corporate/docs/N/12-1213-no-stone-unturned-in-pursuit-of-growth.pdf
- The Government’s response to the review can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/188379/PU1465_Govt_response_to_Heseltine_review.pdf.pdf
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