NORTHERN Powerhouse minister James Wharton insisted the North-East’s economy remained “fundamentally strong” as he unveiled the region’s newest Enterprise Zone tonight (Friday, November 27).

Mr Wharton, the Conservative MP for Stockton South, said the creation of a new low-tax Enterprise Zone (EP), announced by the Chancellor on Wednesday (November 25) and today (Friday) confirmed as covering ten sites across County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, North and South Tyneside and Sunderland, was “really exciting” and the North-East had been given “everything it asked for”.

Speaking during a visit to the Future Technology Centre in Washington, he accepted recent huge job losses had been very difficult for the region and tragic for those affected, but added: “The underlying fundamentals of our economy remain strong.

“We’ve got to do what we can to mitigate the impact of those announcements, absolutely, and these EZs will help.”

Speaking about the axing of a £1 billion competition to develop green carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which threatens the Teesside Collective plan to develop Europe’s first ever CCS network, Mr Wharton said the Autumn Statement contained a series of announcements of specific benefit to the North-East.

Ahead of Mr Wharton’s visit, Washington and Sunderland West Labour MP Sharon Hodgson said she dismissed the new EZ as a “sticking plaster to cover up the empty rhetoric and hot air” of the Northern Powerhouse policy and called for a fairer spending deal for the North-East.

Mr Wharton said her comments were “disappointing” and accused her of talking the region down.

“We’ve got a good, skilled, dedicated workforce. We’ve got big investments building on the work that’s done by huge companies like Nissan, through to investment in Newton Aycliffe (train factory) from Hitachi and these are the EZs that were bid for. It should be welcomed by anyone. Ask for more, by all means. But when we get good news we should celebrate that.”

Asked how he felt the so-called Northern Powerhouse was faring, he spoke about the devolution agreements announced for the North-East and the Tees Valley last month (October), which he said were worth almost £1.5 billion and would bring significant powers to the neighbouring areas.

Asked whether he thought the whole region should get to vote on the changes, as County Durham will, he said it was up to local councils what they wanted to do, but council leaders had seen the “real value” in the proposals. He also warned that if Durham voted against, devolution could go ahead without the county.

“It would be a real shame if Durham decide not to be part of that, but if they do decide not to be part of that, I hope that we can go ahead with the rest of the region because they recognise the value that it brings,” he said.

The new EZ will cover 432 acres and aims to deliver 14,000 jobs over 25 years from April 2017. It includes Hawthorn Business Park, east Durham; Follingsby South, Gateshead; North Bank of the Tyne; Newcastle International Airport Business Park; the A1 in Morpeth, Northumberland; Ashwood and Ramparts business parks in Northumberland; Holborn Riverside in South Tyneside; the International Advanced Manufacturing Park in Sunderland and South Tyneside; and Port of Sunderland.

The North-East’s first EZ, created in 2012, is said to have attracted £100 million in private investment and created 1,200 new jobs.