Regional Growth Fund

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Michael Fallon)]

Round 4 of the Regional Growth Fund closed in March and we received 309 bids, competing for a share of £350 million. The region which submitted the most bids was the North West, but there was a strong regional spread of applications across England.

Round 4 bids are now being appraised and will be reviewed by the independent advisory panel, chaired by my noble Friend Lord Heseltine. The panel will make recommendations to the ministerial group led by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and we hope that we will be able to announce selected bidders in the summer.

Rounds 1, 2 and 3

I would also like to take the opportunity to update the House on progress of the previous RGF rounds.

In total £1,920.9 million of RGF cash is available to businesses through RGF projects and programmes and over £800 million of private sector cash has already been invested thanks to this commitment of support. This will stimulate local economies and provide much needed growth and jobs. A summary of money available in each English region is at annex A.

The pace of RGF has significantly increased and we have enabled the private sector to invest its own money into projects in England, creating and protecting jobs and supporting the Government’s industrial strategy to rebalance the economy.

We remain committed to ensuring money continues to be made available quickly, and companies can access RGF awards as soon as they agree a final offer with us. A total of 98% of projects and programmes from rounds 1 and 2 have agreed final offers and for round 3, 92% of awards have been finalised.

Withdrawn bids

I am publishing the most recent list of bidders who have withdrawn at annex B; updated from my written ministerial statement of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 33WS. As stated previously, the withdrawal of a small proportion of bids is to be expected given the robustness of the contracting process.

Money from withdrawals is recycled into the RGF. Ministers can use this flexibly to encourage growth through specific economic opportunities or to respond to economic challenges in vulnerable parts of the country. In exceptional circumstances this will take place outside the normal bidding process, although detailed due diligence requirements will still need to be met.