Lord Heseltine announced as chair of regional fund

The Government announced today that Lord Heseltine will chair the Independent Approval Panel for the £1billion Regional Growth Fund.

The panel will consider proposals for funding and recommend to ministers which projects should be taken forward. Sir Ian Wrigglesworth will be Deputy Chair.

The Regional Growth Fund has been set up to provide support for projects that offer significant potential for sustainable economic growth and can create new private sector employment. It will particularly help areas and communities currently highly-reliant on public sector employment make the transition to private sector led growth and prosperity.

The fund was announced at Budget and will operate over two years. In a consultation published today, the Government is seeking views on how the fund should be designed to best meet the needs of areas and communities across England. Lord Heseltine said: “I am delighted to have been asked to help with this exciting project. It builds on the experiences I’ve had in helping people in deprived areas to help themselves and their communities achieve aspirations that, without schemes of this sort, might be impossible.

“This is about local people, local initiatives and local success in areas where the inevitable cuts will be most heavily felt.”