Regional Growth Fund

Debate between Phil Wilson and Esther McVey

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Westminster Hall

[Esther McVey]

No, the hon. Gentleman will find that his party left the economy in so bad a situation that we not only had to say, “You will live within your means and spend what you have,” but we had to provide a growth structure so that we could rebalance the economy.

[Phil Wilson]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

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[Esther McVey]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention.

The purpose of the regional growth fund was to stimulate growth, secure jobs and increase the number of jobs. There was a consultation with the public: what did they think it would be best for the regional growth fund to do? The replies came back that they wanted flexibility and no duplication of funds. It was thought best that at least for stage 1—things will change over the next couple of years—there should be minimum bid thresholds of £1 million. It was also felt that guidance should be published. The first round allocated £2.7 billion, creating and safeguarding jobs. It created 27,000 jobs and a further 100,000 jobs in associated supply chains.

I want to talk specifically about Merseyside. In round 1, Pilkington’s in St Helens, Ames Goldsmith UK, Echo and Stobart were successful. I got in touch with Richard Butcher, Stobart Group deputy chief executive, to ask him about the regional growth fund. He says that the regional growth fund has been

“an important factor in Stobart Group’s commitment to the Halton region and will ensure the continued investment from us that the area needs to maintain economic regeneration and growth. The investment from Stobart, Prologis and Halton Borough Council has transformed the area and created many important new jobs—the support from the Regional Growth Fund will further enhance that regeneration.”

Stobart Group has already invested £100 million to date in the development of its Mersey multi-modal gateway logistics site in Widnes, but this new private-public partnership saw the regional growth fund as an ideal opportunity to push on with the development of a further 100 acres, eventually creating more than 5,000 additional jobs and £170 million in gross value added. With the £9 million received in round 1, it is moving forward on opening up 1 million square feet of warehousing space served by rail and road.

That is a perfect example of how the RGF can bring public and private bodies together to stimulate investment and boost the economy. Stobart illustrates the private partnership success and collaboration that has emerged from the RGF. It successfully forged a business partnership between itself, a road haulage operator, infrastructure developers Prologis and Halton borough council. As we know, the sum is always bigger than its parts. That example proves the case most effectively.

I want to refer to other significant developments. The regional growth fund was set up to make key links between private-private partnerships and private-public partnerships, and we are seeing that, but this is the start of a brand-new way of thinking. It is a way of focusing money that we have not seen before, and we will learn as we go along, so instead of the negativity that we have heard today—

[Phil Wilson]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Esther McVey]

No, not just yet; I will in a second. When we talk in Westminster Hall about the confidence that business needs—we all know that that cannot really be defined but is necessary—it helps for all parties to give confidence to business.

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[Phil Wilson]

rose—

[Esther McVey]

I will give way first to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden).

[Esther McVey]

Let me correct that. I do not think that the RGF will be delivered more effectively, but that it will change along the way, as small and medium-sized enterprises link together and put in bids for £1 million. Everybody knows—I was slightly startled by some Members’ comments about this—that due diligence must be done and that money must be targeted at the right people. That is what people in business do—full stop. These things take some time.

[Phil Wilson]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Esther McVey]

I will carry on, because I have nearly finished.

Thirty-four companies and other organisations across the north-west made successful bids in round 2. My hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson) mentioned Bentley, but there is also the university of Liverpool, Pirelli Tyres Ltd, Northwest Aerospace Alliance, Sefton council and Liverpool Vision—the list goes on and on. There are 34 companies and other organisations in total, and they have benefited from some of this £3.3 billion, which is safeguarding jobs, as well as creating 37,000 new jobs, with a further 164,000 jobs in related supply chains and local economies.

Specifically on Merseyside, there is GETRAG FORD Transmissions in Knowsley, which has won support to expand capacity for the production of transmissions at the Halewood plant. Another development I would raise with the Minister is groups of SMEs bidding for £1 million. Last week, I brought a group from the Wirral Invest Network to Westminster to speak to him about how that could best be done. So, yes, the regional growth fund has done a tremendous job so far, against all the odds, but I would like it to be stepped up to help SMEs.

Community Cohesion

Debate between Phil Wilson and Esther McVey

Wednesday 26th January 2011 Westminster Hall

[Phil Wilson]

My hon. Friend and I worked together a lot on this issue with Durham county council. Many of those private landlords are absentee landlords, and a lot of them live abroad, so what do they care about what is happening in the villages of Sedgefield or elsewhere in the country? It is an issue that needs to be tackled nationally and, if need be, internationally, too. I say that because if you are not careful what you will have in these areas is not a big society but a non-society, because the community spirit will be taken out of them.

If we really want a big society to flourish, and if we are “all in this together”, we must look internationally to secure a future for our communities that is protected from unstable international financial systems. We need a big society that is not underpinned by abolishing the future jobs fund or the education maintenance allowance, and by the Prime Minister basically reneging on his pledge to send back to the drawing board any Minister who came up with a proposal that affected the front line.

Finally, I want to leave you with this example of the kind of society—

[Esther McVey (Wirral West) (Con)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way and for bringing this important debate to Westminster Hall. I came along because I was intrigued by the title of the debate, “Community Cohesion”. Obviously I have listened to what you have said. I believe that our Localism Bill very much embeds all the charities and all the volunteers within what we are trying to do, whether it is HealthWatch, the Work programme, community groups or community centres. The big society is everything that you are talking about, just seen from a different viewpoint, and I have people coming to me locally and saying, “Thank goodness we’ve been liberated to go forth and develop what we want, rather than having a top-down state approach.” So I hope that you welcome this way forward.