SURVEY: Vertical Salary Review 2021

Steve Rotheram, incumbent metro mayor of Liverpool City Region and Labour’s candidate for May’s election, has published a manifesto with five key campaign promises.

Government body UK Research & Innovation has committed £33m to the North West hydrogen and carbon capture storage project, while consortium partners pledged a further £39m.

In its preliminary full year results for 2020, the developer reported a pre-tax profit of £33.4m as it awaits a verdict on plans for 1.1m sq ft of industrial space at Wingates, Bolton.

The planned new station in Kirkby has taken a step forward with the funding injection from the Liverpool City Region’s Transforming Cities Fund.

Towns such as Bolton, Cheadle, Preston and Southport were awarded a share of £186m from the Government’s £3.6bn Towns Fund, but the Budget stopped short of allocating significant new money for North West projects. 

The Port of Liverpool’s ‘freeport’ designation, removed in 2012, has been reinstated in the Chancellor’s budget announcement, and is expected to bring investment, trade and jobs to the city region.

Key decisions for the city council have been set out in a report by consultancy Eunomia, to be considered at cabinet level this week.

The local authority has set out a preferred course of action after it secured £27.8m in Future High Streets Fund support for Birkenhead and New Ferry.

The council has set up a fund for land and property purchases that would help finance its significant borough regeneration strategy over the coming years.