The Chamberlain News

Greater Birmingham LEP’s growth plan underpinned by ‘we will deliver’ pledge

The latest in a long line of economic recovery plans for Birmingham and neighbouring local authorities begins with a timely reminder of previous documents and their glittering galaxy of promises that were mostly never delivered.

And in what we must hope does not become a hostage to fortune, the directors of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership state that things will be different this time.

The document could hardly be clearer about the intent: “We know historically there has been no shortage of economic strategies – yet none have fully delivered what they have promised. We will deliver.”

Let’s repeat that. We will deliver. Three small words, but the meaning is unambiguous.

The pledges set out in GBSLEP’s Strategy for Growth are:

• A net increase of at least 100,000 private sector jobs between 2011 and 2020.

• A net increase of at least £8.25bn GVA between 2011 and 2020.

• A decrease in unemployment across the LEP to match at least the national average by 2020.

• An increase in GVA per-head across the LEP to meet the national average by 2020, and exceed the national average by 2025.

• An increase in the percentage of the working-age population with NVQ3+ to be above the Core City LEP average by 2020, and out-perform the national average by 2025.

How, then, can the business leaders and local authorities that make up GBSLEP be so confident that Birmingham and a large part of the West Midlands can deliver a step-change in employment, skills and wealth creation?