South West

The South West will benefit from schemes announced in the Spending Review:

Growth

the creation of a UK-wide Green Investment Bank that will be funded by a £1 billion spending allocation and additional proceeds from the sale of Government-owned assets. The bank will encourage significant additional investment in green infrastructure;
a £5,000 incentive for the purchase of electric vehicles, coupled with the roll out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure – electric vehicle manufacturers in the South West may benefit from the introduction of these initiatives.
the £1.4 billion Regional Growth Fund will support projects with significant prospects for sustainable private sector growth and provide support for people in areas which are currently dependent on the public sector;
Tax increment financing will enable local authorities including those in the South West, to borrow against locally raised business rates; and
Capital investment programmes in South West will concentrate new investment on infrastructure underpinning economic growth, and maintaining existing public assets:
- Yeovil - £32 million support for Augusta Westland civil rotorcraft design & manufacture
- M4/M5 – to relieve congestion and improve journey time reliability by hard shoulder running and variable speed limits north of Bristol
- Weymouth 2012 package – delivering an integrated transport package in time for the Olympics
- Poole Bridge construction

funding the increase in participation in education and training, benefiting 5.6 per cent of 16-18 year olds in the South West that are not in Education, Employment or Training;
uprating of the Basic State Pension (BSP) by the highest of earning, prices or 2.5 per cent, from April 2011, benefiting around 1.2 million people in the South West; and
above indexation increases in the child tax credit, funded by savings from restricting child benefit entitlement for households with a high rate taxpayer, potentially benefiting over 300,000 families in the South West.

a settlement for local government that radically increases local authorities’ freedom to manage their budgets, resulting in greater control over £7 billion of grants; and
Community budgets will be run in 16 local areas, including Swindon, from April 2011 for families with complex needs, to help improve outcomes, and reduce duplication and waste.

The Spending Review builds on the foundations for sustainable, balanced, private sector-led recovery set out in the Chancellor’s June Budget. The Budget announced a number of initiatives which will help build an economy that works for the South West.