29.07.16
WYCA submits bid for £109m from Local Growth Fund
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has approved a bid for £109m from the Local Growth Fund 3.
The money, from the £1.8bn DCLG fund, would be used to fund integrated infrastructure provision in the city-region’s spatial priority areas, including the enterprise zones, North Kirklees Growth Zone and Leeds South Bank.
In addition, it will be invested in business and skills development and developing flood, road, green and digital infrastructure.
Roger Marsh OBE, chair of the West Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Through our existing Growth Deal and other devolved investment we’ve secured in recent years, government has shown confidence in Leeds City Region’s ability to play a leading role in driving northern and national growth.
“We have a long-term Strategic Economic Plan for our city-region and are already on course to create thousands of new jobs and add billions of pounds to the region’s economy. But as I’ve said before, this is not job done but job well begun. Now we’re calling on government to match the full extent of our ambition by devolving further powers and funding to our city-region, moving us closer to our goal of becoming an overall contributor to UK growth and enabling everyone who lives and works here to feel the benefits of a strong and successful economy.”
D2N2, the LEP for the West Midlands, also announced this week that it is bidding for £107m from the Local Growth Fund, which it will match with £318m it has raised with other partners to invest in 23 schemes.
WYCA is submitting a separate bid for £1m each from the Department for Transport for building the North Kirklees Orbital Road and increasing the capacity of York’s Northern Outer Ring Road.
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