A pipeline of capital investments across Greater Birmingham & Solihull that generate jobs, improve transport links, create houses and upskill our people.
Since 2011, the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership has agreed three Growth Deals with government, levering in £433m of Local Growth Fund for the GBSLEP Growth Programme. This has enabled us to deliver a pipeline of capital investments across Greater Birmingham & Solihull that generates jobs, improves transport links, creates houses and upskills our people.
The Growth Programme has directly supported the LEP’s overall ambition for Greater Birmingham, as a part of its Strategic Economic Plan 2016-30, to be recognised as a global city region by 2030. Projects are approved onto the programme, as per the process and criteria for assessment defined within our Assurance Framework, based on how strongly it supports our strategy, its suitability for LEP funding, value for money, and its deliverability.
PROGRAMME OF PROJECTS
The Programme of Projects covers the types of projects we have helped to fund and what benefits they will deliver to the area, how much they cost and how much funding we contribute to them. Updates on the programme as a whole and on individual projects are reported to the Programme Delivery Board, and reports from these Meetings recorded. Minutes can be viewed here.
The LEP Board is empowered and given democratic accountability by the Supervisory Board which, as a Joint Committee of the nine local authorities of GBSLEP, ratifies decisions taken regarding the expenditure of Local Growth Funds. The agendas, papers and minutes of the Supervisory Board – including records of project approvals – can be found here.
The government is committed to making the Midlands an Engine for Growth in the UK, increasing economic growth and improving the quality of life for everyone. The Midlands is home to over 10 million people and over 780,000 businesses. Its economy is worth £217.7 billion.
So far the government has awarded £1.9 (£1.88) billion in three rounds of Growth Deals across the Midlands.
Operating since 2015, the Local Growth Fund programme is now entering its final year of delivery. As of April 2020, £182m of grant funding had been contracted and over the next 12 months a number of projects across the programme are expected to complete delivery.
In June 2020, the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government wrote to LEPs and Mayoral Combined Authorities requesting a submission for funding for capital projects to stimulate the economy. In the GBSLEP region £26m will be invested between 3 projects; University Station in Birmingham, Precision Health Technology Accelerator in Birmingham and a region wide WM5G Application Accelerator Extension.
The £22.49m Growing Places Fund, launched in 2012, has supported the delivery of almost 30 projects and activities, such as feasibility studies, through grant and loan funding support. To find out more, visit the project page on this website.