AS2011: Regional Growth Fund awarded £1bn
There will be an extra £1bn for the Regional Growth Fund, a grant programme that has so far tended to favour manufacturing and infrastructure projects chancellor George Osborne, said in his Autumn Statement.
The Government will also extend RGF by one year to March 15 to "provide ongoing support to grow the private sector in areas currently dependent on the public sector".
The Regional Growth Fund has so far allocated £1.4bn to 169 projects across England – 43 in this region – and was due to finish in 2014.
North West recipients include the Mersey Multimodal gateway logistics park in Halton, Bruntwood's hi-tech redevelopment of the former Royal Eye Hospital in Manchester and Peel's Port Salford.