Catherine McKinnell
Main Page: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)Department Debates - View all Catherine McKinnell's debates with the Cabinet Office
(10 years, 6 months ago)
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Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)
The outgoing chief executive of the North Eastern local enterprise partnership has said:
“I have six big programmes, most are £100 million-plus, with a six-person team. That simply does not work.”
Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with those comments and, if so, what are the Government going to do about it?
The Deputy Prime Minister
If I understand it correctly, that is an issue about the resources which are allocated in the council to those big projects. One of the answers—the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) alluded to this earlier—is ensuring that there is greater devolution, greater control, greater autonomy and freedom to local councils and local areas. That is why the city deal, for instance, has been so warmly welcomed in the north-east.