LEEDS CITY REGION LEP “To Unlock the Potential of the City Region, Developing an Economic Powerhouse That Will Create Jobs
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LEEDS CITY REGION LEP EUROPEAN STRUCTURAL AND INVESTMENT FUND STRATEGY 2014 – 2020 “To unlock the potential of the City Region, developing an economic powerhouse that will create jobs and prosperity.” i Contents Foreword – the Leeds City Region story An environment for growth ...................................................................................................................... iv Our challenges .........................................................................................................................................v Our European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) Strategy ............................................................. vi Structure of this document...................................................................................................................... vii 1 GROWTH PLAN FOR THE LEEDS CITY REGION ..............................................................1 1.1 Delivering transformational change ......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Our vision ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 LCR Notional ESIF Allocation 2014-2020 ................................................................................ 2 1.4 Our ESIF builds on our numerous strengths and assets ......................................................... 3 1.5 The strength of our natural rural assets ................................................................................... 6 1.6 Our ESIF will also tackle barriers to growth ............................................................................. 9 1.7 Our targets are ambitious......................................................................................................... 9 1.8 The wider benefits of investing in LCR .................................................................................. 11 1.9 Our strategic investment priorities ......................................................................................... 11 1.10 An investment approach to maximise the impact of all interventions .................................... 12 1.11 Delivery of the LCR Strategic Economic Plan........................................................................ 14 1.12 How have we arrived at this ESIF? ........................................................................................ 18 2 THE LEEDS CITY REGION ECONOMY ..................................................................... 22 2.1 Purpose of this section ........................................................................................................... 22 2.2 The City Region economy – overview ................................................................................... 22 2.3 City Region output and the output gap .................................................................................. 24 2.4 Unlocking the growth potential of businesses in key economic sectors ................................ 27 2.5 Making the most of a skilled and flexible workforce ............................................................... 56 2.6 A Resource Smart City Region .............................................................................................. 92 2.7 Creating the environment for growth ...................................................................................... 95 2.8 UK and global economic trends and their implications for Leeds City Region .................... 105 3 DELIVERING OUR VISION AND INVESTMENT PRIORITIES.................................... 111 3.1 Context ................................................................................................................................. 111 3.2 A coherent and integrated investment plan ......................................................................... 111 3.3 Unlocking growth potential of businesses in key economic sectors .................................... 112 3.4 Making the most of a skilled and flexible workforce ............................................................. 123 3.5 A Resource Smart City Region ............................................................................................ 135 3.6 Creating the Environment for Growth: Major Centres .......................................................... 142 3.7 LCR ESIF Notional Allocation - 2014-2020 ....................................................................... 173 3.8 Outputs and results .............................................................................................................. 177 3.9 Decisions on Opt-Ins ............................................................................................................ 185 4 GOVERNANCE, RISK AND MONITORING ARRANGEMENTS ................................. 192 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 192 4.2 A strong partnership ............................................................................................................. 192 4.3 Programme Management Committee - Governance Arrangements for managing ESIF in LCR ...................................................................................................................................... 193 4.4 Risk management ................................................................................................................ 195 4.5 Plans for monitoring and evaluation ..................................................................................... 196 5 PARTNER ENGAGEMENT ................................................................................... 197 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 197 5.2 Partnership development and business engagement .......................................................... 197 5.3 Cross-LEP collaboration ...................................................................................................... 198 6 FREEDOMS AND FLEXIBILITIES .......................................................................... 201 6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 201 6.2 Freedoms and flexibilities for the Leeds City Region ........................................................... 201 6.3 Core Cities Prospectus for Growth ...................................................................................... 203 ii 7 CROSS CUTTING THEMES .................................................................................. 204 7.1 Sustainable Development and Equality ............................................................................... 204 7.2 Social Innovation .................................................................................................................. 205 7.3 Equality and Anti-Discrimination .......................................................................................... 206 ANNEXES Annex 1 Consultees on the ESIF Strategy Annex 2 LCR LEP ESF risk register Annex 3 EAFRD – maps on eligible areas as classified using the 2011 Rural-Urban Classification iii FOREWORD – THE LEEDS CITY REGION STORY History in the making The Leeds City Region was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. We have played a vital role in helping to shape growth and prosperity around the world for many generations. And today we are leading the re-industrialisation of the UK economy. With an inventive, innovative and diverse SME base, the UK’s largest manufacturing centre and a leading financial and professional services sector, the building blocks are already in place. Those factories that once billowed smoke across our skylines are now home to a new generation of entrepreneurs and wealth creators whose enterprising zeal is driving the Leeds City Region forward both at home and internationally. The fossil-fuelled power stations that have kept the UK’s lights on since the 19th Century are evolving into new centres of innovation for energy generation, such as Drax in Selby, which is demonstrating national leadership on state of the art carbon capture and storage technology. Our people are our strength. From business and industry to the arts and sport, creativity, enterprise and innovation is in our DNA. And now our vision is to build further on our unique strengths, assets, points of difference and position as an economic powerhouse and an engine room of growth; not only so the Leeds City Region realises its own ambitions but to ensure the UK competes even more successfully on the global stage. Unlocking the potential With a £54bn economy representing 5% of England’s GDP, the Leeds City Region is the largest city region economy and financial centre in the country outside London. Boasting more than 100,000 businesses and a three million strong population, the Leeds City Region is vibrant, dynamic and has the power to accelerate national economic prosperity. As a key workshop of the world, the Leeds City Region is exporting innovation across the globe and we are leading the way in offering healthcare to a population that is living longer through our position at the forefront of medical and surgical technological breakthroughs and innovative approaches to telehealth. We generate over a sixth of the country’s electricity and are in pole position globally to lead the renewable