Economy: Prosperity of Towns

Lord McKenzie of Luton Excerpts

Wednesday 7th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I totally concur with my noble friend. I could not have put it better myself.

[Lord McKenzie of Luton (Lab)]

My Lords, one of the acknowledged challenges of supporting growth, whether for city regions or otherwise, is the allocation of funding in what the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, called “penny packets”. LGA research has shown that central government funding for growth has become even more fragmented, with the number of funding streams now having doubled since the noble Lord’s report. The LGA found that there are 124 funding schemes for local growth, spread across 20 government departments, amounting to £22 billion. On what basis does the Minister claim that this is providing value for money, and how is the related bureaucracy helping SMEs in particular to access support?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Lord should look at the facts. My noble friend Lord Heseltine has been working very closely with the Government, but I can do no better than cite an area that the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, knows well. In Luton, there has been a successful LEP initiative on growth funds—with Woodside Link, Bedfordshire, the building of the new link road in Houghton Regis will enable major employment growth and help reduce congestion north of Luton. The noble Lord need look no further than his own town, where he will see the benefits and the results of the Government’s schemes.