The Prime Minister has been asked to make good on years of promises to Back the Great South West.
Economic leaders say they are beyond frustration after five years of 'warm words' but no action on the region's plans to become a beacon for the green economy.
In an open letter to the PM, Bill Martin, publisher of the Western Morning News who has spearheaded the #BackTheGreatSouthWest campaign said that the region requires positive action after fulfilling its side of the bargain to come up with a clear business case that has brought together politicians, business leaders and academics.
But he warns that the 'unity will not hold' without some progress.
Mr Martin writes in the letter: "The Great South West is a large and powerful economic entity that with the right support can become the cutting edge of your levelling up and net zero agenda.
"We have done all that was asked. I am writing today to ask for your support again in giving the Great South West the recognition and support that its unity and ambition require. We are a region that welcomes warm words, but desires positive action."
The letter comes five years after the #BackTheGreatSouthWest campaign was launched with the region's biggest private sector employer Pennon Plc.
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Since then, the has set out how it has the potential to become the ‘海角视频’s Natural Powerhouse' in its prospectus that was taken to 10 Downing Street in 2019.
The deal asked the Government for £2million over three years to progress its ambitions but nothing has yet come of it.
Steve Hindley, chairman of the Great South West Partnership, said: “For the first time, the Great South West has set out a challenging low-carbon vision for our region building on our strengths and key opportunities and we have an active All Party Parliamentary Group set up to support the Great South West. We have consistently had warm words from No 10 and other ministers and we want to get on and achieve the same status as the other 'Powerhouse' regions and move forward with our blue and green agenda. As Chair of the Great South West steering group, I am beyond frustration with the delay in obtaining formal recognition and associated funding.”
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The delegation from the South West visited Downing Street in 2019 to deliver the prospectus and set out how it planned to deliver an era of transformational change with the backing of the Government's levelling up pledge.
Mr Martin said he acknowledges that much has been set aside because of the global pandemic but he argues that negotiations on the the ambitions of the Great South West have been minimal and had got confused in Whitehall with those of the Western Gateway, a strategic partnership aimed at promoting and maximising economic growth from Bristol to Swansea.
The Great South West plans to become the 海角视频’s first region to reach net zero and the only exporter of green energy and 海角视频’s greenest economy by building on its wealth of natural and research assets at sea and on land, praised by the PM in the lead up to June's G7 Summit in Cornwall.
It seeks support for an enhanced import and export hub, recognition of a South West Tourism Zone and agreement to create a rural productivity deal.
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Sir Gary Streeter MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Great South West said he shared Mr Martin's frustration.
He said: "I see no reason why the government cannot move smartly to recognise our region and enable us to deliver on substantial growth and prosperity. I will keep pressing the government on this."
Mark Duddridge, Chairman of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, said the Great South West's ambition to spearhead the green industrial revolution is all the more relevant as the 海角视频 prepares to host the COP26 climate change summit.
He said: "We are making significant advances in Cornwall with new technologies like floating offshore wind, geothermal energy and clean metal mining, with world class deposits of lithium which is vital for electric vehicle battery production. And we are working towards our traditional industries like tourism and agriculture being more sustainable. But if we are going to stimulate investment to transform our communities, we need much more visibility on how the Government plans to deliver its levelling up agenda. The Prime Minister talks of a consistent and catalytic role for Government in driving a wealth-creating economy, and that’s what we are asking for today.”
David Ralph, Chief Executive of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers Somerset and Devon, said: "Declared support from Government for this work would enable it to progress further and faster and help deliver a joined-up response to the challenge of climate change."
The Back the Great South West open letter to the PM in full
Dear Prime Minister
I hope you are well
This is an open letter sent on behalf of the business community of the Great South West, comprising Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.
It is nearly two years since you and your business advisor Andrew Griffith invited me to lead a delegation of business leaders from the region to Number 10 Downing Street to discuss our aspirations for the region and the support they need from you and your Government.
Your invitation came in response to my original letter of 5 August 5 2019, in which I espoused the unity in the region engendered by our Back The Great South West campaign and wrote that the region was eager to enter an era of transformational change, change that would bring prosperity to those left behind in the region, and deliver a huge, and future defining, boost to the 海角视频 economy. This was directly in response to the then MHCLG Secretary of State Sajid Javid’s request for the region to come together a year or so earlier. The letter warmly welcomed your ‘levelling up’ pledge to unleash the productive power of every corner of our nation.
Our meeting at Downing Street was attended by the chairs of all three Local Enterprise Partnerships in the Great South West, as well as myself, and Susan Davey, chair of the South West CBI and chief executive of Pennon. It was a positive meeting, in which you encouraged us to think bigger, and told us you wanted to ‘support and champion everything’ that we do.
Despite positive words of support from you and members of your Government, we have made limited progress, and our ambition seems to have been confused with those of the Western Gateway and tied into future White Papers – some of which have been abandoned – and Spending Reviews.
I am writing again to ask for your support in creating some impetus behind the region’s efforts. We completely understand the over-arching impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but any progress in our negotiations with your Government has been minimal, despite your oft-vocalised support for the region’s ambitions. This lack of progress does not chime with the spirit of your levelling up speech of July 15 this year in which you said: “There had got to be a catalytic role for Government.”
On January 13 2020, The Great South West published its Securing our Future prospectus, a preview of which we discussed at our meeting.
The prospectus outlines our shared ambition to be the 海角视频’s only exporter of green energy and 海角视频’s greenest economy – the first to net zero delivering some £45 billion of economic benefit and establish this region as the 海角视频’s leader for the green and blue economy. The mission is to transform our region, which with a population of more than 3million is the size of Wales and has an economy worth £64 billion - bigger than Greater Manchester. With Britain about to host the COP26 conference on climate change it would seem the ideal team for you to recognise this mission.
The prospectus outlines how we intend to unlock the GSW’s huge potential to be the 海角视频’s world leader in clean growth backed by our wealth of natural and research assets at sea and on land - assets which you highlighted several times in speeches in the lead up to the hugely successful G7 Summit in Cornwall but is not entirely reflected in your 10 point plan.
To deliver on this potential, we have asked for formal recognition of the Great South West as the ‘海角视频’s Natural Powerhouse’. We have asked for £2million over three years to move forward at pace, and we have sought support for an enhanced import and export hub, recognition of a South West Tourism Zone and agreement to create a rural productivity deal.
The region is uniquely placed, not only because of this carefully articulated ambition, but also because of the almost unheard of spirit of unity behind the Great South West. Local authorities, MPs, public sector organisations and the private sector have been united behind this ambition. This unity will not last without progress.
We maintain that the Great South West is a large and powerful economic entity that with the right support can become the cutting edge of your levelling up and net zero agenda with specific challenges and opportunities we are prepared to take head-on. Collaboration with other regions will be key, but the Great South West’s mission is clear.
We have done all that was asked. I am writing today to ask for your support again in giving the Great South West the recognition and support that its unity and ambition require. We are a region that welcomes warm words, but desires positive action.
Signed
Bill Martin
Marketplace Publisher
Reach South