Joint economic commission for the North West agrees actions on economic downturn

Regional Minister Beverley Hughes has announced seven actions to ensure that the North West emerges from the economic downturn stronger than before.

This work programme, agreed at the first meeting of the Joint Economic Commission for the North West, is a coordinated response by public and private sectors to the threat to families and businesses in the region.

Commission members agreed to:

* To work together to deliver three existing strategic projects - the M62 corridor, the 'energy west coast' in Cumbria and the renewable sector.

* Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and Government Office for the North West to work together to identify strategic projects at risk of not being completed and to propose solutions.

* GONW and Homes and Community Agency to identify specific issues concerning housing for discussion at the next JEC meeting.

* Minister for the North West to write to all public sector organisations in the region to encourage prompt payments.

* A separate subgroup to be set up to look at supporting apprenticeships in the public and private sectors.

* NWDA to work with Business Link and Jobcentre Plus to clarify support available for debt counselling and financial support for small and medium size enterprises.

* The Commission to consider the impact and opportunities from environmental schemes in the region in the longer term.

Minister for the North West, Beverley Hughes said:

"This was a constructive meeting with a robust exchange of views which gave us a good overview of how the current economic challenges are being felt in the North West by businesses and families.

"We discussed what action is being taken to mitigate its worst effects in the short term, while examining opportunities for the region to support the eventual upturn in the economy.

"There was agreement that we need this degree of focus if the North West is to emerge from the present downturn stronger than before and acknowledgement also that this requires action at an individual and joint level across the public, private and third sectors.

"The Commission was clear that it is not a case of creating new initiatives, but doing things better, understanding and filling any support gaps, and prioritising activities where they can deliver the most impact. The group particularly discussed issues relating to development and regeneration, access to finance, response to redundancies, and procurement."

The Commission noted that action is already under way at local, regional and national levels, including the package of measures that has already been put in place by the Northwest Regional Development Agency

This package, launched by the Prime Minister, includes improving access to finance support for small businesses through Business Link Northwest; a £140m Venture Capital Loan Fund on the way in 2009; £40m support for priority skills training; £10m support for 1,000 high-growth businesses in the region and £4m Innovation Vouchers Scheme to encourage 1100 businesses to interact with the further education and higher education institutions across the region.

Bryan Gray, chair of the Northwest Regional Development Agency and deputy chair of the Joint Economic Commission, said:

"It is clear that global, national and regional economic conditions are changing and becoming increasingly tough.  The members of the Joint Economic Commission are unified, and determined to work with and ensure that businesses and households get the support they need in these times of uncertainty.  We will continue to prioritise our investments to ensure that growth continues well into the future.

"The region has built a strong platform to withstand the down-turn in the economy. But tough decisions are required now to help businesses and communities through the short to medium term challenges.  Cash flow and lending in particular are the major pinch points and it's essential the public sector does what it can to get the financial system moving again."

The Regional Minister will now feed back to the Regional Economic Council on Wednesday (5 Nov), which is chaired by the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Business and Regulatory Reform.