Publicservice.co.uk looks at Heseltine’s call for more direct funding for UK’s regions

London, UK -- (SBWire) -- 11/09/2012 --Lord Heseltine, the former Deputy Prime Minister, has said that London has held too much power, for far too long, and the ability to generate growth will need to be spread more evenly across the UK.

In a report entitled No Stone Unturned – which according to information on publicservice.co.uk was commissioned by Chancellor George Osborne - Lord Heseltine pointed out that real growth could be encouraged through devolving power to UK regions, as well as through better leadership and getting the private sector involved in the drafting of regulations.

Publicservice.co.uk also revealed that Heseltine wants billions to be invested into locally based enterprise partnerships, so that the private and public sector could work together more efficiently. A decision, Heseltine stated, needed to be made regarding the expansion of airports in the south east of the country, and he called for the UK to embrace the EU far more than it does at present.

Local authorities and organisations representing businesses have welcomed the report; however on publicservice.co.uk it has been pointed out that the Labour Party has portrayed the report as an attack on the coalition policies.

Lord Heseltine has denied that the report is an indictment of the government, arguing that it simply encourages the current government to work that much harder. In total, Heseltine has made 89 recommendations, the most significant of which was that £49 billion of funding should be transferred from the UK’s central government to the regions, so that growth could be boosted beyond London. Heseltine insists that he still supports the economic strategy which the government has devised but he has called for employers within the education sector to play a much larger role.

Regarding the proposal to devolve power to regions, publicservice.co.uk disclosed Heseltine’s thoughts on the matter, namely that London alone did not make the UK prosperous; it had acquired far too much power. In reality, it was cities such as Birmingham and Manchester that played a larger part in making the UK what it is today.

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