Regional Initiatives
Northern Way
The Northern Way Business Plan 2005-08 was released on the 20 th June 2005. It sets out how money from the three North of England Regional Development Agencies and Government will be spent over the next three years on the Northern Way Growth Strategy.
The priority areas for action are to:
- produce a greater impact by doing things together across the North
- demonstrate how existing national programmes could be even more effective across the North
- prepare a robust evidence base for new investment and specific policies that will meet the North’s requirements
Released at the same time are the development programmes for the eight city-regions, including Leeds City Region. The Northern Way Growth Strategy offer considerable powers to city regions: namely regeneration, housing, planning, skills, business supply links, transport, enterprise and innovation and cultural services.
The Leeds City Region promotes itself as ‘An internationally recognised City Region’ which will improve by “accelerating the development of a world class infrastructure within which all businesses innovate and thrive”. The other seven City Regions have a variety of ‘brands’ and goals.
Rural areas will play a major part in the Northern Way ’s drive to encourage new investment and more tourists to the North.
In February 2006 ODPM published a series of research reports, A Framework for City-Regions, which examine the social and economic consequences of a city-regions approach and look at the experience of other European countries.
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