Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced that all 20 candidate local authorities and city regions invited to be part of the second wave of the City Deal programme will now negotiate with the Government over new powers to allow them to shape their own economic future.
Under this initiative eight conurbations already enjoy greater planning powers and autonomy: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Last year the Government invited the next 20 cities and regions, those with the biggest populations and the highest potential growth, to come forward with ideas to drive private sector growth. All did with proposals to boost a wide range of sectors – including advance manufacturing, construction, green energy and life sciences.
As a result the Black Country, Brighton and Hove, Coventry, Cambridge, Hull, Ipswich, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Oxford, Portsmouth and Southampton, Plymouth, Preston, Reading, Southend, Sunderland, Stoke, Swindon, Bournemouth and Poole, and the Tees Valley will now be in talks with Whitehall over their individual plans to stimulate economic growth.
The Deputy Prime Minister said: ‘Some of the proposals need a bit more work, but the majority will progress, without delay, to formal negotiations.’
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