City Deal will benefit Hinckley & Bosworth
Originally published by East Midlands Liberal Democrats
A DEAL that will see Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council being given greater powers over devolved Government spending to help boost growth in the area has been given the green light by the Government.
This follows an announcement this week that the Government has agreed a 'City Deal' for the Coventry and Warwickshire area, which includes Hinckley & Bosworth.
The Coventry and Warwickshire City Deal will provide £90 million of public and private sector investment, which is expected to create over 15,000 new jobs by 2025, of which over 8,800 will be in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector.
Among other benefits, it will also see the creation of:
- a new Shared Apprentice Scheme, which will see apprentices gaining work-based training in a number of small and medium-sized enterprises; and
- a new Skills 4 Growth programme, which will tackle skills gaps for small and medium-sized enterprises in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector.
Announcing the deal, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:
"This City Deal marks the beginning of a new era of growth and prosperity in Coventry and Warwickshire. It has the genuine power to change the fortunes of people across the region by creating new jobs and boosting businesses."
Cllr David Bill
Councillor David Bill, Deputy Leader of the Borough Council, said:
"We are, of course, part of Leicestershire and fully support the aims of both the county and the East Midlands to attract inward investment, but a glance at the map will show just how closely we are also with aligned with Coventry and the West Midlands. At least six of us on the Borough Council once had links to the industrial scene in Coventry so we have every reason to want to see it return to its former strength.
"We are thus enthusiastically supporting both the Leicester and the Coventry led bids to get investment into the Hinckley area and above all work for people here in Hinckley & Bosworth.
"There have been massive advances in the potential for job opportunities for our people in this year alone but in addition to the new building underway or about to start, which will in itself bring opportunities for the local building trade, we have made it clear that in our view we must see a return to the manufacturing and engineering scene which was once such a feature of the Midlands and which now needs to grow again.
"Then we must make sure we have the transport links to make it work."