{"id":44609,"date":"2014-07-04T08:53:36","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T08:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=bc8259d91221d402dd49af397a01e5c5"},"modified":"2014-07-04T08:53:36","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T08:53:36","slug":"speech-nick-clegg-speech-at-leeds-economic-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=44609","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Nick Clegg speech at Leeds Economic Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Across Yorkshire, you can feel the excitement building about tomorrow\u2019s Grand D\u00e9part<\/a>. Every city, town and village in this region is determined to give the Tour De France the best send-off it\u2019s ever seen. Right from the start, they\u2019ve been committed to making the most of this fantastic opportunity for the future. <\/p>\n

Economically, it\u2019s estimated that the race could generate an extra \u00a3100 million for the UK\u2019s economy in the years to come and our more immediate target is to create at least \u00a320 million in new trade and investment opportunities across the country.<\/p>\n

Already, over the past 3 days, our International Business Festival<\/a> has given you, as possible investors, an insight into the economic power and potential of this region, its cities and local businesses. <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s conference aims to build on that, offering more expert analysis and information about why you should put Leeds and Yorkshire at the top of your list for investment.<\/p>\n

Building on our strengths<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m here to tell you that our government is backing Leeds, as one of the UK\u2019s leading cities, every step of the way.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, we\u2019ve focused on pulling the right policy levers to boost growth across the UK \u2013 with globally competitive taxes, a more attractive business environment and a commitment to develop our greatest competitive strengths.<\/p>\n

For generations, Yorkshire has been pushing the boundaries of business innovation. That\u2019s why we chose to base our new High-Value Manufacturing Catapult<\/a> just down the road in Rotherham. This cutting-edge research facility, which includes both an Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Centre, is focused on helping companies such as Rolls Royce get ahead of their competitors in developing and using the latest techniques and technologies in their industries.<\/p>\n

This city also has a strong commercial research base. Leeds University is helping businesses in the UK\u2019s life sciences sector identify and commercialise the latest medical technologies and processes at the UK\u2019s new Cell Therapy Catapult<\/a> research facilities. While Leeds Metropolitan University recently opened a new Institute for Health and Wellbeing research and the close ties of Leeds Trinity University to the local business community mean that over 90% of its students are either working or studying 6 months after graduation.<\/p>\n

In addition, just yesterday, the government announced that University of Bradford has been successful in its bid for funding to support a new Digital Health Zone. This will be built around 2 facilities \u2013 a Digital Exchange and Living Clinical Laboratory \u2013 near the city centre supporting business to develop and test new healthcare technologies, products and processes as well as help to create new apprenticeships and jobs.<\/p>\n

To put it simply \u2013 Leeds City Region has the people, know-how and ideas to help your businesses get ahead. As a result, this region is playing a powerful part in securing the UK\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n

Across Yorkshire, growth is rising and unemployment falling. There are now more people in work in Yorkshire and the Humber than ever before. More young people are starting apprenticeships and big global names are investing here.<\/p>\n

Investing in the future of Leeds<\/h2>\n

In May, Unilever committed over \u00a320 million to expand its production facilities in Leeds, building on innovative processes developed at its R&D<\/abbr> centre also based in this city. <\/p>\n

While Siemens, working with Associated British Ports, are investing over \u00a3310 million in building 2 new factories in Hull and East Riding to assemble offshore wind turbines and manufacture turbine blades, creating 1,000 direct jobs and the expectation of many more indirectly and across the supply chain. <\/p>\n

And I\u2019m pleased to announce today that Sanef, the French motorway operator, is building its new \u00a31 million frontline customer support centre in Leeds. This centre will create up to 300 jobs, including 10 new apprenticeships, and support Sanef\u2019s operations in the UK.<\/p>\n

These companies believe in this city\u2019s future. They recognise what it can contribute to their company\u2019s success and, with government committed to investing in critical infrastructure projects like High-Speed 2 (HS2<\/abbr>), Leeds can offer them even bigger opportunities in the decades ahead. <\/p>\n

Better connections<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve already committed over \u00a321 billion to phase 2 of HS2<\/abbr>, which will link the network to Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester and improve transport connections between north and south. But I also firmly believe that this investment has to be about more than just improving capacity and cutting journey times. <\/p>\n

If we\u2019re fully committed to enabling your companies to reach their full potential in the years ahead, then we also need to strengthen the connections between
\nLeeds and other northern cities too \u2013 a point made in the recent Higgins\u2019 report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For years, I\u2019ve argued that Leeds, along with Sheffield and Manchester, can and should form part of a northern hub, driving economic investment and growth across the north of England. <\/p>\n

These are 3 of Britain\u2019s biggest cities all within 45 miles of one another. <\/p>\n

Together, they can offer investors access to flexible, highly-skilled workforces, world-class universities with cutting-edge research expertise, a strong industrial base and clusters of innovative businesses in high-growth sectors such as precision manufacturing, creative and professional services, healthcare, retail and green industries.<\/p>\n

It is why, as part of our consultation process, I and the rest of government are open to considering possible city centre locations for HS2<\/abbr> in Sheffield, if that\u2019s the best solution for Yorkshire. <\/p>\n

I also welcome the Chancellor\u2019s commitment last week to a new high-speed rail connection between Leeds and Manchester.<\/p>\n

Driving local growth<\/h2>\n

Yet I\u2019ve also always been clear that better transport links aren\u2019t enough on their own to help these northern giants fully exploit their strengths and thrive.<\/p>\n

For that to happen, local leaders and businesses need a much bigger say in where public investment in their areas should be targeted in the future. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve made it my priority in this government to give them that power and control back from Whitehall, putting them in the driving seat to steer their local economy\u2019s success. <\/p>\n

So, back in 2010, I established the Regional Growth Fund<\/a> to help UK businesses \u2013 looking to boost their future competitiveness \u2013 to leverage extra private investment. <\/p>\n

In total, we\u2019ve committed up to \u00a32.9 billion to over 400 projects, with \u00a3280 million to support businesses in the Yorkshire and Humber area \u2013 creating and safeguarding around 63,000 jobs. <\/p>\n

This includes our \u00a35 million investment in local company Surgical Innovation to establish a new specialist R&D<\/abbr> and training centre in the Leeds area, generating 327 new jobs over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n

Round 6 of the RGF<\/abbr> is now open<\/a>, with over \u00a3200 million available. So if you\u2019re an investor in this region already, with a strong growth idea \u2013 make sure you apply. Official figures show that for every \u00a31 we invest through the RGF<\/abbr>, we\u2019re generating a further \u00a35.50 in private sector funds.<\/p>\n

We then established our landmark City Deals<\/a>. The idea behind these deals was to bring together the local authorities, businesses and influential local voices which lead and support our big city hubs: giving them more control and flexibility over where they choose to spend the money available on driving local growth. <\/p>\n

Leeds City Region<\/a>, which was one of the first areas to secure a deal, is focusing on strengthening the skills of its future workforce. This includes work to increase the number of local companies employing apprentices and also give regional employers more input into local skills development and training. <\/p>\n

The aim is to secure Leeds\u2019 position as one of the UK\u2019s leading cities in the years ahead, but it\u2019s just a beginning. <\/p>\n

On Monday, building on the success of our City Deals, we will be announcing the first in a series of new Growth Deals<\/a>. <\/p>\n

These will extend the powers that we\u2019ve already given to local leaders, with access to a \u00a312 billion pot of funding to help them create jobs, meet the growing demand for new homes in their area and get projects essential to the competitiveness of their local economy moving. <\/p>\n

The Local Growth Fund will be worth \u00a32 billion every year for the next 6 years, boosting growth across every regional economy in the UK. I hope we can look forward to announcing an ambitious Growth Deal for the Leeds City Region and others on Monday.<\/p>\n

Northern futures<\/h2>\n

The fact is that in a global economy our Northern cities like Leeds aren\u2019t just competing with other locations in the south, east or west of England. They\u2019ve also got to rank against global cities like Frankfurt, Lyon, Bangalore and Chengdu for your investment.<\/p>\n

So the question is how can we fully exploit these new local powers to create a vibrant northern hub to accelerate growth across this half of our country and put us at the top of the list of global cities?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also got to be realistic that the best ideas aren\u2019t going to come from Whitehall. Nobody knows more about what local economies need than the people who actually live and work day in and day out in the communities themselves. <\/p>\n

So, today, I\u2019m launching the next phase in our drive to generate the best ideas for stronger local growth with our new Northern Futures Project<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This is an open call to our local leaders, businesses and experts in housing, transport, planning, science and education across the north of England to answer this fundamental question: how do we build on the strengths in the north to create an economic core in the heart of the region that can compete with the biggest cities and regions in the world?<\/p>\n

\n

If you have a good idea for what government should be doing to support growth in the north, email northernfutures@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s time for us to put aside outdated local rivalries. As we\u2019ve seen with the Local Enterprise Partnerships in Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, united we\u2019re stronger. <\/p>\n

We want to hear your views, your opinions and ideas about how we best work together to strengthen the global competitiveness of our great northern giants like Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester and power an economic revival across the north. If you\u2019ve got a plan to do that, send us the details at the email address: northernfutures@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the summer, we\u2019ll be looking at the suggestions we receive. I then plan to host an economic summit in the north this autumn to discuss how we take forward the best ideas, bringing together the influential voices who can make them happen. <\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

A leader in the last industrial revolution, Leeds is determined to play its role in driving the next. Over the next 2 days, along with Sheffield, Harrogate and the rest of Yorkshire, it\u2019s going to show the world just what it\u2019s capable of achieving.<\/p>\n

Make sure you get in there first \u2013 giving your businesses the chance to benefit from this race of a lifetime and the economic power, potential and performance of this great northern giant. Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Deputy Prime Minister outlined economic opportunities in Leeds and the surrounding area and the new Northern Futures Project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44609"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}