Deputy PM Nick Clegg has invited 20 regions to bid for a ‘new city deal’ in what has been advertised as a deal that is likely to create tens of thousands of jobs. Among the regions invited by Nick Clegg are Black Country and Staffordshire.
Analysts expect that 50,000 new jobs will be created in Staffordshire, with more likely to be generated in the Black Country, in case these regions win the bid.
The winning region will be presented with unparalleled powers to invest in public transport and to enhance the proficiency of the regional workforce. Unprecedented powers will be provided to the triumphant bidder to collect hundreds of millions pounds.
Black Country and Staffordshire are in the shortlisted zones, permitted to come up with proposals of what they would do with the unparalleled powers granted to them.
In Black Country and Staffordshire, the ‘new city’ deal would possibly concentrate on making sites ready for development. Instances include Wolverhampton’s former Sunbeam factory, which continues to be boarded up on the Penn Road island.
Nick Clegg has uttered to Express & Star that he wanted the regions to build a competitive spirit. Nick Clegg has voiced that the winner of the bid would be able to keep more of the money they collect instead of despatching it to the vaults of the Treasury.
In Staffordshire, council chiefs have suggested that they would seek fresh jurisdictions to exploit new energy resources and to provide land to magnetise new businesses so that they could develop the land. This scheme is expected to be worth £1bn. The region’s councils will be showing their devotion by obtaining public and private sector investment.
In return, the councils will request the government to offer assistance by presenting access to inexpensive finance and by providing knowhow to execute the programmes. New powers to streamline public services will also be requested by the council chiefs.
Nick Clegg has uttered that this ‘new city deal’ would enable the councils to extract powers from Whitehall. Central governmental control over these areas would be minimised, thereby providing useful autonomy to these regions.
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too premature for Clegg to make an optimistic announcement about job surge…
It will take ages for this deal to reach its logical conclusion…let the tendering process be fair…
Look at the brighter side. He’s offering 50,000 jobs.
And where will the funding come for this new city? From the taxpayer right? The government has lost it!