North West regeneration agency cuts project funding

The North west’s regional development agency has confirmed it is to receive no more funding from the government and that all uncontracted projects will be cut this year before closing  in 2012.

The NWDA, which funds a number of development schemes across the north west including Bovis’ media city development, said that because of £52m of cuts to its £385m annual budget, it would not be able to make any further financial commitments before its closure. In additional it will have to negotiate with existing partners to reduce some agreed grants.

In a statement the body said it was “essentially closed for new business.” It added that it was working with delivery partners to assess the scope for reductions or refocusing projects on a “case-by-case” basis. It said: “we are working quickly with all partners across the Northwest to assess which projects and programmes will be affected and by how much.”

Steven Broomhead, NWDA chief executive said the body was facing a challenging situation. He said: “We have made a start by cutting non-contracted projects and reducing our own administration budget but we now need to re-examine all existing projects and programmes to identify where further savings can be made.” 

“We are now involved in very careful and sensitive discussions with our partners about this. We will use all available flexibility to try to meet these challenging reductions but the reality is that this is a substantial reduction to our in-year budget and there is bound to be an economic impact on the partners, businesses and communities with whom we work.”

“I recognise that this is a very difficult time for both our partners and our staff across the region.”