18/07/2024

By Lord John Hutton, Chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum.

In recent days it has been heartening to hear the new Government’s commitment to unlocking the potential of the regions when it comes to the UK’s economic growth.

In her first speech as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves said growth is now the Government’s ‘national mission’, pledging to ‘make every part of our country better off’. Growth, she said, is necessary not just to balance the books but also to improve living standards.

One of the drivers for local growth has been investment from central Government through a series of local growth funds, with Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly allocated £137m in April 2022 over three years. That money, and how it is spent, has been managed by Cornwall Council through its Good Growth Programme. But with the money due to come to an end next Spring, the focus has turned to what comes next?

Solving this funding conundrum is key to the Government’s ambitions to kick start growth – and done right, has the potential to unleash Cornwall’s ability to support the ambition of a stronger and more sustainable United Kingdom.  From our core sectors like agriculture, through to our distinctive sectors like minerals and renewable energy, we have the natural resources to deliver greener and cleaner growth that creates quality jobs and boosts quality of life.

That potential is laid out in Cornwall Council’s new 10-year Good Growth Plan, which sets out a clear and compelling vision of Cornwall’s leading role in helping reshape the UK economy over the next decade, driving good work and supporting strong local communities.

The strategy has just been endorsed by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum, a new voice for Cornish business which met for the first time on 11 July 2024.

Government investment will be a critical catalyst to the success of that plan so it is encouraging to see Labour’s commitment towards deepening devolution and to a new statutory requirement for Local Growth Plans. To quote the party’s manifesto, these will ‘bring together local leaders with major employers, universities, colleges, and industry bodies to produce long-term plans that identify growth sectors and put in place the programmes and infrastructure they need to thrive’.

If that sounds familiar it is because Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have been applying that model to economic development for the last 25 years, ever since the first Objective One investment programme, and the Good Growth Plan is the latest iteration of that approach. So we’re well prepared to deliver.

It’s also a model that’s working. Recently published data show that Cornwall is finally moving the dial when it comes to boosting GDP per head and productivity, albeit with some way still to go.

But with the best will in the world the prospect of the new Government having an entirely new local growth funding mechanism in place by March is unlikely. Local Authorities and the private sector too will need time to adjust to any new mechanism for delivery.

That’s why we’re backing calls for an interim arrangement, with another year of Government-supported investment along the lines of what we have now, so that come next Spring we can maintain momentum and confidence without having to dismantle the delivery teams and structures that are proving so effective at supporting businesses and communities across Cornwall and Scilly through the current Good Growth Programme.

Then we can look forward to Labour’s pledge to provide local Councils with multi-year settlements, and end wasteful competitive bidding, something that we can all get behind.

Lord Hutton is Chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum, whose role is to embed a strong, independent and diverse local business voice for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly at the heart of local and national Government