Last week’s Autumn Statement signalled a significant shift in power in the UK. For the West Midlands, it delivered not only announcements that will help supercharge our economy, but also a fundamental change in how this region will be run – putting the future in our own hands.
At the heart of these announcements lay a clear message: after years of ‘begging bowl’ culture – where regions went cap-in-hand to Whitehall for funding – we have earned the trust of Government to handle our own affairs. That trust has been won by consistently delivering results.
I want to use this column to explain how we will deliver on the opportunities presented by Jeremy Hunt’s plans, how we have delivered in the past, and how that track record has now earned us the kind of local decision-making powers which have, until now, only been found in Wales and Scotland.
First of all, the Chancellor unveiled plans for an Investment Zone here with the power to drive up to £5.5bn of growth across the region and 30,000 new jobs.
The zone will benefit from a mix of tax incentives, direct funding and business rate retention, and will focus on driving growth in advanced manufacturing, green industries, health-tech and underlying digital technologies.
Three cornerstone projects will ensure the zone’s benefits are spread across the region. A Coventry-Warwick Gigapark, centred around our crucial automotive industry cluster, will be anchored by a new battery gigafactory.
Birmingham’s fast-growing Knowledge Quarter, housing technology businesses and two conference centres, will also benefit from tax breaks for businesses as well as funding for infrastructure such as roads and power.
In Wolverhampton, a partnership between the city council and university is building a Green Innovation Corridor, creating new green industries and developing future skills. It will receive millions of pounds to support the construction of key infrastructure to establish the site.
Beyond these projects, Investment Zone funding is also expected to support a range of skills and business support programmes across the whole region.
Why have we been trusted with this opportunity? Because we have a track record to show we get results. Since I became Mayor, we have delivered on building new homes, on improving skills and job creation, and by overseeing a huge seven-fold rise in transport investment.
We know how to grow our economy and we know how to drive innovation. Just look at the new science of Brownfield reclamation that we are pioneering, cleaning up the old eyesores left from our industrial past to use for housing and commercial developments. Just look at the transport innovations, like Very Light Rail, that are being developed here.
When it comes to targeted, localised investment, we also have a proven track record, from the Life Sciences campus that is rising in Edgbaston to the huge project that is regenerating the old Longbridge car factory site.
Take Birmingham city centre, for example. A little over a decade ago it became an Enterprise Zone, with the ability to attract transformative investment. The evidence of the Zone’s success is there for all to see, in its impressive buildings and iconic public squares. In the Black Country, the i54 site in Wolverhampton has been operating for just as long, while DY5 in Dudley and Phoenix 10 in Walsall are also driving a significant increase in foreign and domestic investment.
And, of course, the Commonwealth Games provided another high-profile success story, delivered in record time, under budget, while raising our international profile and bringing millions of visitors.
As always, there is more to be done here to drive growth – but it is successes like these that have given the Government the confidence to trust us with a region-wide Investment Zone.
There was more to welcome in the Autumn Statement. In the past, I have called for an extension of the 75% discount business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure, and an increase in the Local Housing Allowance to cover the bottom 30% of market rents, both of which were included. I also welcome direct funding for local authorities to tackle homelessness.
However, it was the confirmation of the Single Settlement for the West Midlands, starting at the next Spending Review period in 2025, that provided that significant power shift. The chancellor’s announcement signalled a fundamental step forward in the devolution agenda, which has been driven by consecutive Conservative governments.
This Settlement, one of several commitments in the West Midland’s Deeper Devolution Deal agreed in March, hands our region control over spending, similar to the Scottish and Welsh Governments. It will give leaders here autonomy to decide for themselves how to spend funding over the long-term, free from Whitehall micromanagement. It is a game changer.
It is also a clear vote of confidence in the ability of our region to deliver, and an acknowledgment of the power of local knowledge to direct investment effectively. Of course, we want more – for example, the region would benefit from gaining more powers over trade and investment, and a fully-fledged regional careers office could transform employment here.
But at a time when Birmingham’s Labour-controlled city council is under the control of Government commissioners, and West Midlands Police are under special measures, this transfer of power shows that united under a Conservative mayor, our region has earned the trust of government to take control of our own future.
This is true devolution in action, and places decision-making where it belongs: in the hands of those who best understand our region's priorities.