Thames Valley: LEP agrees £97m deal for regional expansion and 17,000 jobs

The Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership has agreed an historic Growth Deal with the Government, which will see £96.9 million invested in Thames Valley Berkshire. £17million has been confirmed in the first year, while an indicative award of a further £79.9m has been allocated from 2016/17 onwards. The deal will create up to 17,000 jobs, 10,000 homes and leverage a further £20m in public and private investment.

The key features of the deal are:

• Delivery of essential housing at flagship sites in Newbury, Wokingham and Bracknell to help young people across the area get on the property ladder.
• A package of road and public transport investments to improve connectivity and reduce journey times across the area. This means the people of Thames Valley Berkshire will benefit from faster journey times and better access to key business locations.
• Three new ‘Solutions Labs’, which will equip our young people with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths skills needed to support our tech-focused business base and the new Thames Valley Science Park. It will also bring businesses, FE Colleges and students together to shape curricula so that they are aligned with the needs of tech-based businesses.
• Thames Valley Berkshire LEP has also landed £250k funding for continuation of the Business Growth Hub, which is a crucial source of advice and expertise for the area’s SMEs and micro businesses.

The Thames Valley Berkshire Growth Deal is part of a £12 billion long-term programme to revitalise local economies. The deals are the latest example of the British economy being rebuilt from the bottom up, and sharing the benefits of the recovery around the country. Local businesses and council leaders have been invited to open discussions immediately on the next set of projects to be funded, building on the momentum that has been established.

Steve Lamb, chairman, Thames Valley Berkshire LEP, said: “This Local Growth Fund allocation will help to stimulate growth across Thames Valley Berkshire as the funding streams from central Government will unlock several key schemes across our sub region. This will enable the LEP and its partners to improve connectivity across its towns, reduce congestion, unlock private sector investment essential to economic growth and support the building of over 10,000 new homes. We will continue to work with government in order to secure funding for those projects and work streams that were not included in this current round of growth fund allocations. Now we turn our attention to working with our partners to deliver our strategic economic plan. ”

Further initiatives that the Growth Deal supports include better western and southern rail access to Heathrow and semi-fast Crossrail services to Reading. These, combined with the committed delivery of the M4 Smart Motorway Scheme, are all essential to sustain the UK’s ‘Tech Valley’ and position it for world-class business in the future.