The new council partnership, known as the Pennine Lancashire Multi-Area Agreement (MAA) will transfer from central government greater responsibilities in fifteen areas covering employment, skills, transport, regeneration, housing and planning helping to grow the local economy by almost £400m.
Many people live, commute and work across council boundaries and the Pennine Lancashire economy is no different, stretching across seven councils.
The Pennine Lancashire MAA has taken responsibility to deliver a co-ordinated cross council plan to strengthen and connect their stretched economy.
This will enable Pennine Lancashire councils who have chosen to come together to develop bespoke arrangements to breakdown and tackle the economic barriers of their rural economic circumstances. As a result they are will be better placed to take advantage of the upturn when it comes.
Over the next decade the area, with a population around 500,000 and during an economic downturn, is expected to grow employment to over 72% with over 6,500 new jobs created, raise skills by 8% with almost 5,000 people given new training and help almost 8,000 off benefits.
The Multi Area Agreement will devolve and deliver:
* More freedom to direct investment as needed;
* Significant transport link improvement especially to and from rural areas;
* Delivering new skills training that properly reflect the local job market;
* Targeted help to get people off benefit;
* Preparation for the upturn, when it comes;
* To improve the overall well-being of local communities.
The transport priority is to link Pennine Lancashire to Manchester and other job markets. The MAA gives powers to redirect and pool funds in new ways so they can improve commuter routes to Manchester, Leeds region and to new employment sites within Pennine Lancashire by widening the M65 to, upgrading the Clitheroe-Manchester Raillink, Todmorden Curve and East Lancashire Railway with new and improved rail services.
The employment priority will be led by a new City Employment Strategy board that will support the drive for new jobs focusing on new employment on sites at Whitebirk in Hynburn, Burnley Bridge and Blackburn Knowledge Zone. The partnership will also seek to agree a new flexible New Deal arrangement to help reduce benefit claimants by 2.5% - a significant number given the downturn.
A new company called the Pennine Lancashire Development Company will create a new link between business and local governments. It will include Elevate the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder acknowledging the important relationsjip housing provision has to skill retention and economic growth.
The skills priority will be driven by a higher education programme to create a 'graduate into local industry' scheme supported by new Pennine Lancashire University campuses in Burnley and Blackburn. Pennine Lancashire is currently the largest area not to have its own University.
The online priority will be to change poor digital connections constraining economic growth so that the broadband coverage is 100% across all parts of the region.
Today's event is the culmination of a week of government activity which has seen the Prime Minister focused on the regional aspects of the downturn and action to help individuals and businesses in the face of current economic difficulties as well as long-term reforms for boosting skills and employment.
When the country last faced serious economic difficulty in the 80s and 90s councils didn't have the powers, skills or financial resources to respond. London alone stood out as the country's single economic powerhouse.
Over the last decade we have invested in regenerating our towns and cities which has created a regional renaissance of jobs and prosperity and because local leaders know their area best the government's devolution agenda has given more money, power and controls to councils up and down the country.
Hazel Blears will shortly begin a series of regional delivery workshops to see at ground level what difference devolved powers are making to local economies and look at where we can devolve more to support councils deliver greater prosperity.
