Liverpool proposes a five-year economic plan to the Government
Liverpool has submitted a £1.4bn COVID-19 economic plan to the Government, and Getintothis’ Danni King reveals all the details…
As plans across the country begin to be actioned in order to aid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Liverpool have set out a £1.4bn economic plan to the Government.
Commissioned by the Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, the post-COVID recovery plan outlines a five-year vision which includes Liverpool’s key role as a global gateway in post-Brexit Britain.
The news comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed that museums, galleries, hotels, pubs and bars are among the businesses that can reopen their doors as of July 4.
Venues in Liverpool owned by The Pub Invest Group are among some of the establishments to be operating under Sunday hours as of July 4, including popular bars McCooleys, Dirty O’Sheas, Soho, The Rubber Soul Complex, The Old Bank and several more.
The 178-page report proposes the city’s strategy of preventing a socio-economic crisis; a multi-layered programme, which if delivered, will effectively create 25,600 jobs, provide an additional 12,000 construction jobs, and over 9,700 apprenticeships.
This could be good news for Liverpool businesses, after the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in catastrophic financial struggle for many of the creative industries that operate in the city.
Liverpool has been resurrecting its economic base for the past 20 years, therefore the impact of the COVID-19 crisis has been drastic, leading Liverpool City Council to quickly set out the efficient strategy in order to ensure recent momentum is not lost.
Liverpool’s leisure, creative and cultural sectors
According to figures, in Liverpool the leisure, creative and cultural industries:
- Bring in around £3.3bn to city region each year
- Equates to 38 per cent of the city’s economy
- See a business rate contribution of 49.8 per cent. This means £270.5million is invested in core services such as social care, health care and in education
- Supports 60,000 jobs
Speaking on the new £1.4bn economic plan, Mayor Joe Anderson stated: “The Covid-19 lockdown has left cities like Liverpool in a state of economic paralysis and the option of doing two things – wait for events to unfold or take action. Liverpool has acted.”
This recovery plan is a blueprint for a new Liverpool. Forged by ambition and confidence to be innovative in how we create new skills, new homes and new jobs, and it has the weight of the entire city behind it. Liverpool has undergone a renaissance over the past two decades and we are not about to let the momentum slip.”
“Our knowledge, digital and visitor economies are floursihing and this recovery plan sets out a detailed strategy to build on those platforms. By investing in these key projects we can renew this city and its position as a gateway for Britian in the 21st century.“
Mayor Joe Anderson
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister proposing the plan, Mayor Joe Anderson and Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham reported that the fiver-year vision aims to reinforce the city’s recent growth, whilst also addressing the risk of mass unemployment once the Government’s initial COVID-19 employment and business support strategies are phased out later on this year.
The Liverpool Economic Recovery Plan (LERP) has the support of 72 leading figures, from the city’s commercial, legal, financial and cultural sectors. Those backing the plan include Liverpool FC Chief Executive Peter Moore, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool Professor Dame Janet Beer, and John Godfrey of the fund Legal & General.
Peter Moore pledged his support for the plan, by stating: “Liverpool Football Club has played a major part in this city’s past and it intends to play a major role in the city’s future.”
“We believe in and support this five year plan and are fully committed to playing our part in supporting the city’s economy. We are investing heavily in digitizing our business and we are replying on the local resources to achieve this.”
“As we have seen with most progressive cities, investment in the technology sector is key to continued and consistent growth – and this awful pandemic has shown us all that technology will play an even larger role in the future.”
“Empowering remote working and delivering education and entertainment in this new world order will be key to growth. Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter is a fantastic incubator for emerging tech companies and has amazing potential to deliver the city’s aspirations.”
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The LERP report focuses on four key themes; Innovation, Housing, Employment & Creativity.
The ultimate aim of the report is to provide jobs and allow people to access lifelong careers in these areas, which will significantly enhance the UK economy.
The first part of the recovery plan was unveiled last Monday, the Liverpool Without Walls campaign, which aims to ensure the hospitality industry has the best chance of getting back up and running through outdoor seating areas.
The LERP report, which will be sent to Liverpool City Council‘s cabinet for endorsement on Friday July 3, identifies more than 25 ‘shovel-ready’ projects – many of which could begin before the end of 2020.
These projects include a new cruise terminal, a major housing development to the International Festival Gardens site, the next phase of the city’s health innovation campus at Paddington Village- in addition to a Science and Tech Innovation Centre as part of the Liverpool John Moores University development at Copperas Hill in the Knowledge Quarter.
The plan is requesting £200million of central Government funding for physical construction, and an additional £267million for apprenticeship and skills-training programmes.
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Other key projects have also been outlined, including:
Health Innovation Liverpool (The HILL at Paddington North): A virtual platform hosting integrated health data platform to enable greater understanding of the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. This will inform improved public health responses to any future pandemics and general health of civil population.
Community Wealth Building by Housing Retrofit: A transformational housing retrofit project, focused on re-developing vulnerable and hard to reach neighbourhoods. This project proposes the development of modular housing and the retrofit of 4,000 homes as a critical step towards climate change targets and community wealth building.
Creative Enterprise Allowance: This scheme would offer 12-month grants for up to 200 artists and creatives to encourage new, sustainable businesses and entrepreneurship, as well as delivering a cultural bursary scheme to support 50 individuals. These artists would form a new ‘creative think tank’, available to businesses and the council to provide creative thinking on overcoming tomorrow’s challenges.
TV and Film Pop-Up Studio: A temporary film studio on vacant city-owned land in the 3 years until Littlewoods Studios is running at full capacity. Two 20,000ft sound stages would be available for film and TV production, extending content producers’ stay and spend in Liverpool.
The entire plan aims to enable complete recovery for the city post-pandemic, allowing enhancement of all sectors within Liverpool.
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