Daily Mail

BUDGET FOR THE NORTH

A Treasury outpost in Darlington. An infrastruc­ture bank in Leeds. Freeports in Liverpool, Teesside and Humber. It’s a . . .

- Ruth Sunderland BUSINESS EDITOR

A RAFT of measures was announced in yesterday’s Budget to transform the fortunes of the North.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said Britain needs a ‘different economic geography’ to recover after the pandemic and to make the most of Brexit opportunit­ies.

Rishi Sunak unveiled measures for Teesside, which has traditiona­lly lagged behind the rest of England in terms of economic success and has pockets of hardship and deprivatio­n.

A new ‘Treasury North’ campus will be set up in Darlington, creating 750 top jobs. The choice of the Tees Valley town – beating rival bids from Leeds, Bradford and Newcastle – will be a major boost for the area, which has struggled economical­ly after losing heavy industry in the 1980s.

The Mail campaigned for the Treasury North to be on Teesside, famed for its Transporte­r Bridge in Middlesbro­ugh ( pictured). The area has also been chosen as one of eight new freeports. These zones will benefit from simpler planning, funding to improve transport links, cheaper tariffs and lower taxes.

The other northern freeports will be Humber and Liverpool. East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, Plymouth, Solent and Thames make up the rest. Teesside’s freeport will cover 4,500 acres and include the recently reopened airport, the former Redcar steelworks site and the ports of Middlesbro­ugh and Hartlepool.

It is expected to create more than 18,000 jobs in five years, to boost the local economy by £3.2bn and attract £1.4bn of investment.

Separately, a National Infrastruc­ture Bank is being set up in Leeds, with initial capital of up to £12bn to invest in projects to fire up the green revolution.

The Chancellor said Teesside was known for its past success in heavy industries, and added: ‘Now, when I look to the future I see old industrial sites being used to capture and store carbon; vaccines being manufactur­ed; offshore wind turbines creating clean energy for the rest of the country.

‘All located within a freeport with the Treasury just down the road and the uK Infrastruc­ture Bank only an hour away.’ Sunak, whose constituen­cy is close by in Richmond, North Yorkshire, crafted his Budget with an eye to former Labour voters who switched to the Tories at the election. He is keen to secure their loyalty with an economic revival.

If he does, he will succeed where Labour failed, despite Tony Blair and the late Mo Mowlam having north-east constituen­cies

Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor, said it proved the area was ‘at the top table of Government’, adding: ‘For too long areas like Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool have been left behind and local people could be forgiven for thinking that we were often an afterthoug­ht. That ends today. our voice was heard.

‘This shows that Rishi is a true chancellor of the North. He knew we couldn’t continue to allow vital decisions affecting our area to be made by bureaucrat­s in London.’

Andy Preston, the independen­t mayor of Middlesbro­ugh, said: ‘It’s really positive that the Government has decided to bring Treasury North to our area.’ The announceme­nt that Leeds will house the infrastruc­ture bank was welcomed. Roger Marsh, chairman of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnershi­p, said: ‘Locating this powerful national institutio­n in our region will be a real catalyst for change and a major driver of our post-pandemic recovery.’ The Teesside towns of Middlesbro­ugh and Thornaby will get a combined £ 46m to make improvemen­ts.

Douglas McWilliams of the Centre for Economic and Business Research applauded the Treasury move north.

He said: ‘It is just one of many pro-northern announceme­nts. The fuel duty freeze benefits the North proportion­ately twice as much as the South.

‘There is £4.2bn of urban transport planned mainly for northern cities, funds for the upgrading of the A66 and three of the freeports are in the North.

‘Together, these should provide a significan­t boost.’

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 ??  ?? From the Mail, November 2020
From the Mail, November 2020
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 ??  ?? Top table: Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen
Top table: Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen

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