Mayor 41m for Growth

Mayor announces new £41m capital fund to drive jobs and economic growth in London

16 MARCH 2012

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced details of a new £41m London Growth Fund to drive jobs, boost housing and stimulate economic growth across the capital.

Funding has been allocated from central Government after the Mayor successfully bid for a share of the national Growing Places Fund, to free-up potential development. The aim of the capital fund is to encourage private sector investment in key large scale infrastructure and regeneration projects. Applicants must be able to demonstrate how this investment complements their own and how it will be repaid back into the fund over time, to enable continued reinvestment in the capital.

Working with his newly established London Enterprise Panel to approve which proposals will get a share of the funding, the Mayor will announce successful bids in the autumn. Consisting of senior business leaders and representatives from London boroughs, the London Enterprise Panel was set up to advise the Mayor on how best to attract strategic investment to support private sector growth and employment, promote enterprise, increase skill levels and protect and enhance London’s competitiveness.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “Continued investment in London’s private sector is essential if the capital is to maintain its reputation as the best big city in the world to work and do business. This fantastic new fund means we will be able to plough much needed capital into major regeneration and development projects, which are a crucial catalyst for jobs and growth in London."

Local Enterprise Panel Co-chair Harvey McGrath said: “Members of the LEP are enthusiastic about the potential to use the London Growth Fund to fuel the London economy and create new jobs. Unlike many other funds, a key feature of this one is that successful projects need to repay the capital, ensuring that it is replenished as growth is unlocked, which can then be reinvested in other projects with growth potential.”

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Notes to Editors
Applications can be submitted at http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/business-economy/our-investments/inv...
The £41 million for the London Growth Fund has been allocated by central Government from the national Growing Places Fund pot. The GLA submitted a tender for CLGs Growing Places Fund to generate economic activity in the short term by addressing immediate infrastructure and site constraints which promote the delivery of jobs and housing. Subsequently, the GLA was awarded £41m for London in March.

Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) published a Growing Places Fund Prospectus in Nov 2011 with three objectives:
• To generate economic activity in the short term by addressing immediate infrastructure and site constraints and promote the delivery of jobs and housing
• To allow local enterprise partnerships to prioritise the infrastructure they need, empowering them to deliver their economic strategies
• To establish sustainable revolving funds so that funding can be reinvested to unlock further development, and leverage private investment

The London Growth Fund builds on these three overriding objectives through the following criteria against which bids will be prioritised:

• Projects offer large scale impact and are seeking investment of at least £5m from the London Growth Fund
• The project secures match funding or has secured additional up-front investment from partner(s).
• Levers a substantial, quantified amount of additional investment
• Delivers measurable growth and private sector employment in London’s priority locations
• Is supported by a strong business case demonstrating strong strategic, economic, commercial, financial and project management fundamentals
• Demonstrative support from public and/or private sector partners
• Has secured all the necessary approvals and ideally, with planning approval.
• Otherwise be undeliverable within the timescales and on the scale proposed, without support from the London Growth Fund
• Is compliant with EU State aid and procurement rules
• Fosters partnership working and collaboration, and/or show general support for the benefits the proposal would bring
• The business case must demonstrate repayment mechanisms which are guaranteed to at least some level (ideally 100% in real terms). Repayment terms of less than 100% will only be acceptable in the presence of strong benefits that otherwise cannot be captured financially.

The Mayor is committed to openness in all aspects of his administration and is committed to making the work of this Panel transparent. Agendas and papers for the Panel and any Working Groups will therefore be posted on the GLA’s website at least two clear working days before the meeting to which they relate. Papers will be released with the agenda except in those cases where the Secretary reasonably considers that information contained in the papers may be exempt from disclosure under an applicable exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).