A group of 12 Investment Zones are set to be announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt during the Budget on Wednesday, March 15.
Mr Hunt is expected to confirm that each area will be backed by £80m of funding while an extra £100m is to be shared across Glasgow, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands to help them become 'globally competitive centres for research and innovation'.
The Investment Zones will receive £80m each over five years, including 'generous tax incentives'. The funding can be used to improve skills, provide specialist business support, improve the planning system or for local infrastructure.
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Eight places in England have been shortlisted to host Investment Zones, with the intention to agree plans by the end of the year.
The eight places are those covered by:
- The proposed East Midlands Mayoral Combined County Authority
- Greater Manchester Mayoral Combined Authority
- Liverpool City Region Mayoral Combined Authority
- The proposed North East Mayoral Combined Authority
- South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
- Tees Valley Mayoral Combined Authority
- West Midlands Mayoral Combined Authority
- West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
Mr Hunt said: "True levelling up must be about local wealth creation and local decision-making to unblock obstacles to regeneration.
"From unleashing opportunity through new Investment Zones, to a new approach to accelerating R&D in city regions, we are delivering on our key priority to supercharge growth across the country."
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove added: "Levelling up means backing local growth across the UK, driving innovation to attract investment and putting power into the hands of local communities so they can reach their full potential.
"Our new investment zones and Levelling Up Partnerships will deliver more jobs, better services and more opportunities for local people."
Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said: "This government has made clear its aim for the United Kingdom to be transformed into a scientific and technologic superpower, not only pushing our country forward, but the whole world.
"Cutting-edge innovation starts at a local level. That’s why these plans to invest £100 million into 26 ground-breaking projects in Glasgow, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands are so important, supporting them to become the future centres of research and innovation in the United Kingdom."
The government said it is also 'working closely' with the devolved administrations to establish how Investment Zones in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be delivered, which will account for the four final locations.
The Chancellor is also expected to provide investment for the roll out of Levelling up Partnerships across England.
The programme will involve 'deep dives' carried out by a partnership of local councils, MPs business and civic leaders to gather a 'holistic picture of a place and its unique challenges and opportunities, and identify cross-Government interventions to unblock obstacles to regeneration'.
The £100m investment earmarked for Glasgow, Greater Manchester and West Midlands will go towards 26 research and development projects.
They include:
- A University of Birmingham-led project to accelerate new health and medical technologies,
- The Manchester Turing Innovation Hub linking business to cutting edge AI research and technologies to help enhance their productivity
- A net zero project led by University of Strathclyde to accelerate the adoption of automated ultrasonic inspection during welding and additive manufacturing
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