DUBLIN: Business wants the UK government to back up with funds its talk of a Northern Powerhouse, to improve the region’s creaking infrastructure in particular.
An overwhelming majority of northern companies surveyed by the Institute for Public Policy Research North, the think-tank, considered England overly centralised and said the benefits of devolution outweighed the risks, according to research to be published on Monday.
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“Until the government commits new money for the north, particularly in infrastructure, many businesses are likely to continue to view the Northern Powerhouse as a brand lacking substance,” the study will say.
The concept championed since last June by George Osborne, chancellor, has “fantastic ‘brand perception’”, according to the report, but there is frustration and confusion among northern groups over what it means in practice.
The study, entitled Full Steam Ahead: business attitudes towards the Northern Powerhouse, says that northern businesses want the government to be more radical on devolution of transport and infrastructure funding, going beyond the existing Transport for the North plans, to counterbalance investment in London with schemes such as Crossrail.
Apart from £12.5m to develop these plans businesses note that no new additional spending has yet been confirmed for the north. They are hoping for that to be addressed in the Budget on July 8 and the autumn Spending Review.
The survey took place before the government announced it was suspending work to electrify the rail lines between Leeds and Manchester and Sheffield and London, which would have improved speed and reliability.
