Regional Development

Lord Newby Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wigley]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will reduce the geographic disparity in Gross Value Added per head within the United Kingdom.

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, the Government are committed to supporting sustained economic growth across the UK. Economic development is a devolved responsibility in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In England we are promoting growth across the regions by creating local enterprise partnerships, giving cities the powers they need to drive economic growth via the city deals, and directly investing in and growing enterprises via the regional growth fund, which has now allocated some £2.4 billion.

[Lord Wigley]

My Lords, is the Minister aware of the figures for the inner London west area that show a GVA per head of over £111,000 compared with a figure of £11,000 or £12,000 for Anglesey, the Gwent Valleys, the Wirral and Durham? Is this not a gross disparity and should the Government not give much greater priority to overcoming this?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, it is a very great disparity—and a disparity, as the noble Lord knows, of very long standing. The good news in terms of Wales is that in 2010 and 2011 GVA grew faster per head than in either England or Scotland, so there is a bit of progress. However, changing and reversing those regional disparities is going to be a long job and it will take a large number of measures to achieve it.

[Lord Peston]

My Lords, my noble friend asked the Minister a very good economics examination question, to which I am glad to see the Minister tried gallantly to find an answer. It is a very difficult question. Is he aware that most economists would argue in favour of the so-called convergence theory that free markets would lead to the right outcome and there would be convergence of the different regions? The only trouble with that marvellous theory, like so much economic theory, is that it is totally refuted by the facts. What the facts show—and this is a problem for any Government—is that once a region is ahead, it stays ahead. It is rather like the fact that very few teams win the Premier League, even though everybody could play marvellous football just by copying the best teams. Does that not mean that while the Government should intervene, particularly with infrastructure investment biased in favour of the relevant regions, they must proceed with the utmost caution in interfering with the way the markets are working?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, as the noble Lord will be aware, we have had active regional policies to a greater or lesser extent in the United Kingdom since the 1960s. When I studied this at university, the figures were very much in my mind. The reason it is such a difficult issue to deal with is that, for example, in the north-east the proportion of people employed in the basic industries—mining, steel, shipbuilding and engineering—fell from something like 33% to well under 10% in a couple of decades. The challenge for government in trying to reduce regional disparities is how to put in place the kinds of long-term policies, such as infrastructure apprenticeships, that can begin to redress these wider economic forces. However, I do not think that government can reverse them, certainly not in the short term.

[Lord Bates]

My Lords, I welcome my noble friend’s recollection of the north-east of England and some of the history there. Did he have an opportunity to see the recent study in the Economist magazine about the north-south divide, which looked at the data between 1997 and 2010, pointing out that during that time in the north-east of England GVA grew by 41% and yet in the south-east of England it grew by 187%? Is that not part of the origin of the divide and is it not part of the correction to get good, well paid jobs in the private sector? If so, will he welcome the fact that employment in the north-east of England is at record levels, as are exports?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, I very much welcome that, but I revert to my earlier answer. The north-east has in effect had to reinvent itself in terms of the balance of employment, which it has done reasonably well. However, it has been comparing itself, as my noble friend did, with the City, which has had an existing strength in financial services—one which grew almost exponentially during the period that he is talking about.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan]

My Lords, would the Minister not agree that, given the parlous condition of the Welsh economy, there would seem to be an unanswerable case for a reappraisal of the Barnett formula in the light of its incapacity to serve the acute needs of the land and nation of Wales?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, as the noble Lord knows, the Barnett formula is much discussed. The Government are not planning to change the Barnett formula during the course of this Parliament. We are trying to find a more constructive way forward. The Secretary of State for Wales is working very closely with the First Minister of Wales, looking at a raft of specific measures—whether it is possible new borrowing powers for Wales or the business case for electrification of the north Wales railway—to bring about specific changes which, it is hoped, will boost growth in the medium to long term in Wales.

[Lord Morgan]

My Lords—

[Lord Barnett]

My Lords, the Barnett formula, which, sadly, bears my name, should have been changed a long time ago, as a powerful Select Committee of this House, chaired by my noble friend Lord Richard, and many other senior Members of the House have recommended. When is that recommendation going to be put into effect by the Government?

[Lord Newby]

Not during the course of this Parliament, my Lords.