West Midlands

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

Growth

£530m of investment in broadband, benefiting a total of around 2 million households, including in some of the most remote areas of the UK. The Government will also pursue a superfast broadband pilot project in Herefordshire benefiting thousands of households in the area;
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 West Midlands 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;
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPS) which will provide the strategic leadership in areas and set out local economic priorities. LEPs will play a pivotal role in delivering the Government’s aim for an economy rebalanced towards the private sector; and
Capital investment programmes in the West Midlands will concentrate new investment on infrastructure underpinning economic growth, and maintaining existing public assets:
- HS2 – new high speed rail link from London to Birmingham, and then direct to both Manchester and Leeds
- Midland metro – extension of the Midland Metro to Birmingham New Street station
- Birmingham New St Station upgrade will secure wider economic and regeneration benefits for the area

funding the increase in participation in education and training, benefiting 6.6 per cent of 16-18 year olds in the West Midlands 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 1.1 million people in the West Midlands; 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 400,000 families in the West Midlands.

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 Birmingham 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 West Midlands.