Brandon Lewis
Main Page: Brandon Lewis (Conservative - Great Yarmouth)
Vince Cable
Several of the best bids came from the north-west, including Greater Manchester and Liverpool city region. There is a problem with Lancashire as there are overlapping bids, fiercely competitive and different, and we are in the process of evaluating which are strongest on the criteria that we have set.
Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth) (Con)
I congratulate the Department. I know that businesses in Norfolk that have been working to put together an LEP bid are excited, despite what the shadow Secretary of State said, about the opportunities offered by an LEP. I know they will be disappointed to be part of the gap and not to have been approved at present. Can the Secretary of State please give advice to colleagues in Norfolk and in Suffolk about what they can do to put a successful bid together?
Vince Cable
The hon. Gentleman is right. Norfolk is not on the first list. We are hoping it will be successful. The advice that I would offer is for the different councils to work together collaboratively, to involve the local business community more actively than it has been, and to be ambitious in their aims.