31.07.19
Liverpool mayor submits £230m bid for ‘Green City Deal’
The mayor of Liverpool has submitted a major bid to the new prime minister for a £230m ‘Green City Deal’ to boost the region’s economy and tackle climate change.
Joe Anderson has put forward the proposal to Boris Johnson’s new government which will create 10,000 new jobs, 4,000 apprenticeships and support 35,000 more people into work.
Liverpool City Council estimates that the new vision would provide a £5bn economic boost over the next five years.
Its priorities include helping make Liverpool carbon neutral, delivering jobs, clean air, better health, smarter travel, more green spaces and more energy-efficient homes.
Mayor Anderson said: “We need to be bold, radical and ambitious if we are to meet our target of becoming a net zero carbon city by 2030.
“This proposed City Deal centres on positioning Liverpool as the go-to place for clean technology investment, training and job creation through an inclusive and sustainable growth strategy.
Anderson added that this is the right moment for Liverpool to work up a serious bid to government as the new prime minister will be looking closely at how best to support the country’s economy following Brexit.
“Through targeted and long-term investments in the city’s infrastructure and skills development, we can become a global destination for inward investment focussed on the new clean growth industry.”
The deal has been backed by businesses and the trade union Unite, and will support the government’s Clean Growth Strategy, as well as building on Liverpool CC’s declaration of a climate change emergency earlier this month.
The proposals include a total of 6,000 lifetime standard homes built or retrofitted with energy saving features to save households money and tackle fuel poverty.
The private sector will also be incentivised to build more energy-efficient homes, and the establishment of a Liverpool Mutual Bank will help people on to the housing ladder.
The council is working alongside a number of unions and local employers to create a clean-growth vocational training hub, “part of a radical plan to create a Liverpool curriculum that better meets the needs of all young people.”
Lord Deben, chair of the UK’s independent Committee on Climate Change, commented: “I welcome this innovative approach from Liverpool to tackle some of the ingrained challenges behind making an inclusive and sustainable green economy for the city.
“It is only these permanent changes to the way we live and work that will allow us to deliver the necessary and urgent response we need to Climate Change.”