Mayor in London for last-minute crunch talks over Spring Budget
The Tees Valley's Ben Houchen is holding a meeting with the Chancellor
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen is today (14 March) in London holding an 11th hour meeting with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to further push the case for support for the region ahead of tomorrow’s Spring Budget.
Following reports that the Chancellor will unveil plans to revive the previously shelved Investment Zone policy, Mayor Houchen has been to Whitehall to underline how it would be transformational for the town and turbocharge the work of the emerging Mayoral Development Corporation.
Investment Zones, which are set to be centred around universities, are designed to drive growth by cutting red tape, including planning regulation, and offering time-limited tax incentives, and a new zone would be backed by £80million of Government funding over five years.
An Investment Zones would boost the ambitions and aims of the Middlesbrough Development Corporation, which will regenerate the town by driving investment and securing planning powers to streamline and speed up redevelopment. Backed by £18million of investment, its boundary includes crucial assets such as the Boho zone, Middlesbrough Station, the Northern School of Art, Centre Square, and Teesside University.
He also used the meeting to highlight bp’s £1.5bn cutting-edge Net Zero Teesside scheme, the UK’s first fully integrated commercial-scale gas-fired power station with carbon capture, utilisation and storage capabilities.
As part of the East Coast Cluster, it has been named the UK’s premier net zero project to lead the country’s low-carbon ambitions. He sought a commitment that Net Zero Teesside – set to create up to 5,500 jobs – would benefit from a share of the recently announced £20billion fund set to “clean up” the UK’s domestic energy supply.
Mayor Houchen said:
“Since I was elected, I’ve always done everything I can to bang the drum for Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool down in Westminster.
"That’s why we have hundreds of Civil Service jobs in Darlington and international firms investing in our Freeport, creating new opportunity for local people.
"Ahead of Wednesday’s budget I’ve been pushing Government for even more to get the very best deal for our region.”
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