WOULD our regional economy be stronger if we had one voice arguing the case for inward investment?

The question is prompted by my interview on page 30 with Paul Woolston, chairman of the North East LEP.

Mr Woolston believes that the LEP area he oversees, which covers County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland, would benefit from having an elected mayor, as it would help the region to grab the attention of national policymakers and provide a single and easily identifiable point of leadership and focus.

In addition, Mr Woolston expresses the personal opinion — he stresses that he is not speaking on behalf of the LEP board members — that he would be in favour of a single LEP covering the whole of the North-East, from Tees Valley to Tyne Valley. This point will inevitably spark debate.

When the Coalition Government abolished regional development agencies and introduced Local Enterprise Partnerships in 2011 they created two powerful individual voices, or, depending on your opinion, diluted the region’s profile at national level.

In either case, LEPs operate on a fraction of the budgets handed to the likes of OneNorthEast.

Critics of the two-LEP system say that we are too small an area to require a separate entity looking after Tees Valley, and another driving investment for the rest of the region.

Wouldn’t it be better to band together and work on a shared strategy that promotes jobs and growth?

The counter argument is that history suggests Tees Valley does not get its fair share of support and funding when it is part of a bigger North-East development body. Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU) may cover a relatively small area but it ensures that the area’s interests are promoted.

The number of successful bids TVU has seen approved by Government’s Growth Funds shows that its voice is not being ignored in Whitehall.

My view is that TVU has been a good thing for the Tees Valley area.

It has a clear strategy and within the tight constraints of current government spending it has made a decent fist of creating jobs and attracting investors to the area.

But, I agree with Mr Woolston that when we talk about the North-East we mean Darlington and Hartlepool as much as we do Gateshead and Sunderland.

Having one body to take a lead on regional development across the whole area seems to make sense.

We may no longer be OneNorthEast, but we should be working towards shared goals under a single banner.

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