Pennine Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership
Debate between Graham P Jones and Baroness FullbrookWestminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
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Lorraine Fullbrook (South Ribble) (Con)
I wish to address the issue of parochial interest, which is in danger of overriding the greater and more holistic approach in fostering and enhancing the economy of Lancashire. If we allow Lancashire to be divided, we will be unable to offer a broad and integrated approach to our economy. To argue that the Pennine area should be separate because of its manufacturing base is to encourage a parochial view of business.
Graham Jones
Does the hon. Lady not accept that, on travel to work, 84% of the people are contained in the east Lancashire region, and that that is where they work? Does she not accept that there is no economic connectivity of any significant scale between the east and west?
Lorraine Fullbrook
I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s comments but I do not agree, because I believe that industry, the manufacturing base and professional services all have to be integrated across Lancashire.
Lorraine Fullbrook
I would like to make progress. We now live in a global economy, which demands a consolidated approach in all sectors: manufacturing, tourism and professional services. I submit that a united Lancashire is a stronger economic powerhouse than one divided into separate bids identified by geography. By unifying the system, the Government are cutting red tape and bureaucracy. Any investor looking to invest in the north-west will automatically be attracted to a unified LEP that offers a one-stop shop.
Lorraine Fullbrook
I have nearly finished.
The Business Secretary said last weekend that not one of the three proposals to create the partnerships had been successful, claiming that they would have ended up competing with each other for the Government’s regional growth fund. Meanwhile, schemes in Manchester, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire have got their acts together and are getting the go-ahead. Other unified LEPs are currently bidding for funds that could be usefully deployed in Lancashire. The North and Western Lancashire chamber of commerce has said that an LEP based on the county of Lancashire is the preferred model for chamber members and the wider business community. On 2 November, Babs Murphy, chief executive of the chamber of commerce, said:
“A pan-Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership was the only realistic model for this area, a model that had the support of the business community.”