Plans to thrash out devolution deals for the South West form part of Michael Gove's Levelling Up plans unveiled today.
Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay will be among nine areas to be the first to negotiate new 'County Deals' in a bid to close the gap between the richest and poorest areas of the UK.
But business leaders have criticised the lack of cash for the region with big questions yet to be answered on how any new structure would work.
Tim Jones, chair of South West Business Council, said: “There are no nuggets in this for the South West. It’s disappointing. They are taking a very complacent view of the South West being safe in Government circles.
He said the County Deals would start a huge debate about the structure of local government, and its relationship with business, particularly if “there is no money at the end of it”.
Central to Gove's Levelling Up plans is the creation of more regional mayors, such as Andy Burnham in Manchester and Dan Norris in the Bristol region.
The County Deals have been welcomed by council leaders in Plymouth, Devon and Torbay, though they admit it is still early days.
Cllr Nick Kelly (Conservative), leader of Plymouth City Council, said it is not about individual councils losing power but coming together to have one voice and being a 'credible partner' with the Government to get investment and development.
Cllr John Hart (Conservative), leader of Devon County Council, welcomed it as a ground-breaking opportunity while Cllr Steve Darling (Lib Dem), leader of Torbay Council, said he expects the deal will help tackle the challenges that Torbay faces including the housing crisis.
But crucially, there are no big cash announcements for the region with concern that the South West once again lags behind its cousins in the North and Midlands for big funding projects.
Kim Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said that at least the county and greater South West had not been ignored - but he struggled to see where any cash was coming from and felt the North had been prioritised.
“I can’t see any money, although I like the terminology,” he said. “The positive thing is the County Deals, so we can’t claim we have been ignored this time.
“But there does not seem to be any money or even anything we can present to businesses in Cornwall and the greater South West, like tax credits for innovation.”
“There is not any detail at all,” he added.
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Levelling up has already pledged regeneration money for Wolverhampton and Stoke while three new ‘Innovation Accelerators’, billed as “major place-based centres of innovation”, are centred on Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and Glasgow-City Region.
These clusters of innovation will see local businesses and researchers in these areas backed by £100m of new government funding, learning from the MIT-Greater Boston and Stanford-Silicon Valley models.
David Ralph, Chief Executive of the Heart of the South West LEP,a key member of the Great South West campaign, said: "We welcome the specific recognition of the need to level-up the South West but are concerned that the needs and opportunities of the South West need to match the support and funding being offered to the North and the Midlands.
"Even basic infrastructure in the South West, whether digital, transport of energy distribution is way behind what is needed, and what is available in much of the rest of the country; productivity and access to services is particularly in rural areas is lower.
"Indeed whilst parts of our area are doing really well many of our coastal areas and isolated rural communities have, as demonstrated in recent NHS analysis, particularly low levels of life expectancy, access to essential services, skills and wages."
Jonathan Keable, FSB lead for Plymouth, agreed. He said: “To make this a success for Plymouth and the South West, we need our equal share of funding to support our transport network, that’s road, rail and flight; broadband and skills across the region to encourage business opportunities, employment and rejuvenate key sectors hit by the pandemic like hospitality, leisure, retail, cities and towns. "
But it is not yet clear how far the region's ambitions to be come the UK's 'natural powerhouse' have been acknowledged.
Last year, PM Boris Johnson indicated that the White Paper would bring good news for the South West's £45billion ambition based on its ability to deliver on green growth.
The Great South West campaign, had asked for £2million to be able to advance its business case but there is no immediate sign that the Levelling Up paper will deliver that.
Speaking on behalf of British Chambers of Commerce South West, Stuart Elford, chief executive of Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce said: “The white paper doesn’t mention the Great South West and I fear we will once again be overlooked and unable to realise our regional potential due to this lack of cohesion.
“The region has incredible strengths, particularly around the blue/green economy, and we had hoped that would be recognised by the Government so we could leverage investment and turbocharge the economy in a way that provides equality of opportunity for all.
“County deals may bring some advantages, although even that is not clear, but as a region there is still no recognition of our strengths and potential.”
Mr Ralph said that he would be following up with civil servants on the details of the paper.
He said: "The Levelling-Up agenda recognises the need for Government to work differently with its places and as part of this we hope we can take forward the five key priorities of the Great South West – Improving rural productivity, increased trade and investment, support marine and maritime, support for tourism and becoming a green energy power house."
A spokesman for South West Water, part of the Pennon Group which has been a key partner in the #BackTheGreatSouthWest campaign, said it welcomed the report.
He said: "The commitments we have seen today to improve transport connectivity, digital connectivity, and R&D investment were all called for in our 2021 report ‘Levelling Up the Great South West’. Government has its part to play in delivering on these policy changes, but we know that real transformation is delivered by local people and local organisations."
In Cornwall, questions are still being asked about cash it was promised to replace EU funding it lost through Brexit. Mark Duddridge, Chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "We welcome publication of the White Paper and the government's commitment to devolve more power to the regions, including Cornwall. But the critical issue now is timing. There is still little detail about the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) that will replace Cornwall's EU funding, and we're already facing gaps in investment and tackling skills issues. Cornwall is the only place outside of the devolved nations that has been promised a ring-fenced allocation of the SPF that the Chancellor said will match 'at a minimum' what we would have received from the EU. But we still don't know what that looks like or how it will work."
Simon Peacock, head of the South West region at leading property consultancy JLL, said, the figures on the need for levelling up are stark.
The ten largest cities outside of London, which include Bristol and Cardiff, are home to a combined population of 15.6m compared with London's 9m. And yet the big 10 regional cities account for only 22% of UK GDP compared with London's 26%.
He said: "The big focus was on areas such as the North and Midlands today where investment has long been much needed, but it's important that the South West is not overlooked. Bristol, for example, has a fantastic story to tell in terms of how investment translates into productivity, with the city among those with the highest productivity levels per capita. However, it also has some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country. Investment combined with a joined up regional approach are required to ensure the city realises its economic potential."
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