Question

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what recent progress he has made on city-region deals.

The Government has a long standing relationship with partners in the Liverpool City Region which has seen the successful negotiation of three landmark deals.

In 2012, The Liverpool City and Liverpool City Region Deals created a £75 million Mayoral Investment Fund to support economic development to build a further 12 new schools and £5m support to organise the 2014 International Festival for Business.

Building on the two deals, Liverpool City Region saw the agreement of a £232m Growth Deal in July 2014. According to estimates by the Local Enterprise Partnership, by 2021 the Growth Deal will bring to Liverpool City Region, up to 10,000 jobs, 10,000 new homes and up to an additional £30m into the Liverpool City Region economy from public and private investment.

We are engaged in an on-going dialogue with the partners about the delivery of these three deals.