The impact of the current economic situation on the North West and the Government's response - North West Regional Committee Contents


Examination of Witnesses (Questions 115-119)

MR PHIL WOOLAS, LIZ MEEK AND DAVID HIGHAM

8 JULY 2009

  Chairman: Welcome, Minister. Thank you for coming along to give evidence so soon after your appointment. I promise that we will be reasonably kind. I begin by asking you to introduce yourself and the other witnesses, just for the record.

  Mr Woolas: Thank you, Mr Crausby, for the invitation. This new role is a tremendous opportunity for me. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am thrilled to bits to be able to do this. I am joined by Liz Meek, Director of the Government Office for the North West, who is known to you, and by David Higham, Deputy Regional Director of Economic, Environmental and Regional Issues.

  Q115 Chairman: Thanks for that. When you were first announced as Regional Minister for the North West, you were quoted as saying, "The North West region is the engine room of the British economy and it is leading us out of recession." What are the signs that this is being, and will be, achieved?

  Mr Woolas: The economic analysis behind that statement is the size of our economy in the North-West. As people will know, if we were a nation in our own right, we would be the 12th largest nation in the European Union. Our general value added is £120 billion, which is greater than any other region apart from London and the south-east and is also larger than Scotland. The critical point is that we have a higher proportion of exports—if you look at the relationship between general value added and GDP, the difference is, how much do we export and, to some extent, how much do we get in through tourism. That gap is significant and because of that factor and the export-led way out to recovery, we are in a good position, which is why we went into recession later than other regions. The second reason is less technical: to put it this way, if you are a company and you survived the past two recessions, you are a good company. Because a higher proportion of our GVA is manufacturing-based than in other regions—crudely put, London and the south-east are arguably over-dependent on financial services, which have taken the brunt of the recession—we are well placed. On the other infrastructure points, I believe that we have the jigsaw puzzle in place. Our transport infrastructure is pretty much complete—the motorway network, the North-West main line, of course, has been upgraded and, having been upgraded, airport growth is one of the signals—to answer your direct question. If you look at the growth pattern of John Lennon and Manchester, you will see growth carrying on there. There are also critical areas such as the nuclear industry, the growth in media in the region and, of course, in universities. We have, again, in absolute numbers in the North-West, not the most higher education students, but the highest number of higher education students as a proportion of population. Therefore, the proportion of highly skilled younger people within the employment market is higher. I am not denying the problems, but those things are in place and mean that in the final economic analysis the reasons for our economic strength in the first place are putting us in that position.

  Q116 Chairman: So what do you see as your priorities for dealing with the downturn in the North-West in the first year?

  Mr Woolas: Jobs, jobs and jobs—the protection and promotion of jobs, which, of course, includes skills. The future job initiative is critical and that is what we need to focus upon.

  Q117 Chairman: Do you have enough power as Regional Minister to deliver that effectively in the North-West? Are you satisfied with the limits of your powers as a Regional Minister?

  Mr Woolas: I can't come before this Committee with enough experience of this role to answer that question as much as I'd like to be able to. It is too early to tell, I think. The way we are in a strong position is in the development of the partnerships we have within the region. I know that it does not always feel like it from the constituency angle, but we probably have—maybe the south-west and the north-east would counter this—among the strongest partnership arrangements with the public and private sectors, but especially with the public sector. That means that what one needs to focus on to "join up Whitehall", to use the jargon, is easier to identify. I am also a Treasury Minister wearing my London hat, so I think that helps.

  Q118 Chairman: Yes. I know that you are relatively new to the job but can you—perhaps the other witnesses can assist—provide any evidence that this role has been effective in delivering beneficially for the North-West?

  Mr Woolas: I can ask Liz Meek to help me out on that one in a moment. I think that the JEC is a good thing. It's delivered some things. We have a critical meeting on 20 July—not just the JEC meeting, but a meeting of the major seven banks at regional level, which is clearly critical in terms of the decisions on credit availability and loan availability. Perhaps I can ask Liz to help out on that.

  Liz Meek: The early successes of the JEC have largely been about unblocking projects that were blocked. Some of that was obviously done in fairly private negotiations involving Ministers and Departments, but we are pleased with the result as far as the North-West goes. Some substantial PFIs have been approved—the Greater Manchester waste PFI, for example. Some of the colleges perhaps did not get enough, but given the situation, we feel that the North-West did quite well. There is an area of activity that was probably the priority in the first couple of meetings of the JEC that analysed the schemes that were blocked. All the housing schemes worked jointly with the Homes and Communities Agency and the Development Agency, to work out where the priorities were so that the money could be targeted where it was most effective. It might not be headline grabbing, but I think that the North-West got from that construction opportunities it would not otherwise have had. A second area is about bringing this unique group together so that we work together. The public sector organisations around the table control over £20 billion. Having Jobcentre Plus, the health authority, the Learning and Skills Council and ourselves, together with the private sector, has meant that the various schemes that were being launched could all be tested, and we could ensure that everybody was pulling in the same direction. Those are two examples of what the JEC has done.

  Q119 Chairman: As you have already said, Minister, you have been created a Minister and have a high-profile job in immigration. You have constituents to look after, as we all do. Can we be excused for thinking that the North-West ministerial job is really down in the pecking order? Will you have enough time to deliver on the North-West job, particularly during the difficulties that we are facing during this downturn?

  Mr Woolas: Obviously, that is an issue that I have had to give a lot of attention to, so as to organise the arrangements with the office, and the structures. That has been my first priority—it is very pragmatic stuff about allocation of time, communication links and so on. The answer to the question is that my enthusiasm for this job is 100%. I am passionate about our region, and I think it is an absolute disgrace that Members from Opposition parties are not taking part in the Committee. That is bad for our region, and I wish that they would take part. I will be applying some pressure in that regard as they are letting down the people of the North-West by what is, I think, their rather childish attitude. My enthusiasm for the job is unsurpassed. I have had about eight months' experience in the Home Office job, and we have established strategies, timetables and objectives there that mean more time is freed up. Of course, the priority during non-sitting times, in terms of chunks of time, is in the North-West. That means that I can answer your question honestly and say that the time is there, but it does require prioritisation.


 
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