Local Growth White Paper: realising every place's potential
The Local Growth White Paper (PDF, 1.9 Mb) outlines our new approach to local growth, shifting power away from central government to local communities, citizens and independent providers.
This White Paper sets out how the Government will put businesses and local communities in charge of their own futures, give greater incentives for local growth and change the way central government supports and maintains growth. We will connect people to jobs, help them get the skills they need and equip local areas with the tools they need to create and shape dynamic and entrepreneurial local economies.
Government’s overarching goal is to promote strong, sustainable and balanced growth. We need to rebalance the economy both sectorally and geographically, so that growth is not reliant on particular places. For local communities this means ensuring that everyone has access to opportunities that growth brings and everyone is able to fulfil their potential.
On 28 October 2010 we published the Local Growth White Paper, which focuses on three key themes:
- Shifting power to local communities and businesses – those who understand their economies best should lead their development and enable all places to fulfil their potential.
- Increasing confidence to invest - create the right conditions for growth through Government allowing market forces to determine where growth takes place and provide incentives which ensure that local communities benefit from development.
- Focused intervention – tackling barriers to growth that the market will not address itself, supporting investment that will have a long term impact on growth and supporting areas with long term growth challenges manage their transition to what is appropriate for the local area. Government policies should work with the market, not seek to artificially create growth.
