Wed Oct 20, 2010 8:50 am
Advantage West Midlands Cuts Revealed
121 RDA funded projects in the West Midlands lose out following cuts of £37 million.
Advantage West Midlands announced last week in-year budget cuts totalling £37.1 million following the government-ordered spending review. The West Midland’s Regional Development agency has slashed £34.8 million from its services and pipeline of infrastructure projects, and a further £2.3 million saving from declined grant offers following a tightening of restrictions.
In all, 121 projects have seen a withdrawal of funding, including cancellations and scaling back of various town and village development plans; £5.2 million from the budget for Business Link East Midlands; closure of RegenWM; £800,000 from the Manufacturing Advisory Service; £1.15 million from the Advantage Equity Growth Fund (Exceed); and reductions to other regional loan funds.
Mick Laverty, chief executive at Advantage West Midlands, said: “The collective efforts of our Agency staff and our partners have delivered all the savings that the Government asked of us.
“The scale and pace of the cuts required meant that inevitably some difficult and unpopular decisions had to be made.
“Our joint focus has always been to safeguard priority projects - the ones that create most jobs and the greatest growth and support the most competitive businesses across the West Midlands.
“We still have a significant portfolio of project investments and assets that may transfer to successor bodies. We are awaiting Government clarification on this and a range of other matters.
“In the meantime, we are doing our utmost to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements. Our main task remains to support economic recovery and future growth through the effective delivery of our remaining projects.”
AWM still has a budget of nearly £250 million for 2010-11 – pending closure in 2012 - and its investment this year alone is expected to generate a return of more than £2 billion in economic benefits for businesses in the West Midlands.
Read further details on the AWM site or businessdesk:
(http://www.advantagewm.co.uk/news-media ... -2010.aspx)
(http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/westmidl ... tion=19009)
Source: businessdesk.com, 13/10/10