Why Investment Zones are proof of Government's commitment to levelling up - Dehenna Davison

This government is laser-focused on delivering this in a Conservative way - and unleashing our full economic potential and creating more good-quality well paid jobs for people right across Yorkshire and the whole United Kingdom.

Yorkshire is not dubbed “God’s own country” for nothing. The region I grew up in is famed not just for its resilience and its straight-talking, but for its culture, its sport, and its countryside. This is a region that has inspired like Turner, musicians like Jarvis Cocker, and pioneers like Amy Johnson. But, like so many parts of the country, it has suffered for years from stagnant economic growth and a steady brain drain to places with better jobs and better prospects.

But I say enough is enough. This does not need to be Yorkshire’s destiny. And that is why the number one priority of this Government is delivering growth up and down the country.

We have already set the trajectory by supporting offshore wind in the Humber including a blade factory in Hull and revitalising the Culture and Leisure Quarter in Rotherham town centre.

We are rejuvenating Castlegate Quarter, the birthplace of Sheffield, and delivering the Centre for Child Health Technology in Attercliffe which will position the UK as a global leader in technology for paediatrics and child health.

When the Chancellor stood in Parliament yesterday, he laid out a clear-eyed vision for how we unlock the huge – and untapped – potential that exists in the UK. At the heart of this strategy are new Investment Zones.

So, you might well ask, what on earth is an Investment Zone and will it really benefit me?

The short answer is yes.

The Chancellor and the Prime Minister promised to rip up the usual economic orthodoxy and ditch the tired managerialism of the past. And that is what they are already delivering.

Investment Zones are a cornerstone of this approach, helping us break with the old status quo by properly playing to the strengths of individual areas like fintech on the Humber or media production in Leeds. At the same time, these Zones will strip away the bureaucratic barriers that stand in the way of towns and cities thriving.

Each Zone represents an opportunity for councils, businesses, and local communities to work together and grow their local economy, with all the benefits that brings.

This is levelling up in action. Slashing through burdensome red tape and handing proper power back to local leaders. Turning long neglected areas into magnets for new investment. Cutting taxes to help people and businesses make it through what is unquestionably one of the toughest economic times in our recent history.

We know where people live has no bearing on their talent and aspiration. Investment Zones will give people a chance to fulfil that ambition, wherever they’re from. Because if we have the right conditions for enterprise, there is no reason we can’t have engines for growth across the country. Why can’t the next Silicon Valley be in Leeds? Why should the next life sciences hub not set up shop in Wakefield?

And we know what happens when companies invest: it breathes new life into areas. Jobs are created. Infrastructure is built. Public services are improved. Communities are bound closer together.

So far, we’ve begun discussions with 38 areas. But readers can rest assured that many more areas across Yorkshire, the North, and the entire country are firmly in our sights.

We want to give this region everything it needs to get on, and eagle-eyed readers of The Yorkshire Post will know just last month we agreed a genuinely historic devolution deal with York and North Yorkshire to put power back into the hands of local leaders.

It's a deal that not only gives the mayor more targeted powers to address needs within the region, like transport, housing, and education. It will also see the region receive £540m from the Government over the next three decades.

There will be some readers who are justifiably sceptical when they hear things will change for the better. I understand. Times are tough. My job, and the job of this Government, is to get us through this period, to build your trust, and to deliver on our promise to grow the economy and put more money back into your wallets and purses.

It is no small task. But we have faced tough times as a country before, and we got through them. Levelling up is going to help us get through this challenging time together. And I am confident it is going to leave us with an economy that is bigger, bolder, and fairer than ever before.

Dehenna Davison is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.