THE campaign to allow the North-East to control its economic destiny has been backed by the region's local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).

The North East LEP and Tees Valley Unlimited LEP (TVU) are central to the campaign's aims to secure more powers and larger budgets for the region.

Outlining his support for the campaign and its aims, Stephen Catchpole, managing director of TVU, said: “The aim of the campaign is to persuade Whitehall to allow the local area to decide how the money the Government gives to us should be spent and giving us more powers to intervene in our own local economy.

“The rationale is that we here in the North-East understand our economies better than Whitehall.

“Investments and interventions we make are likely to result in greater growth than if the decisions were made from Whitehall.”

TVU has identified several examples of how, given the right support, it can make a real difference to the region's economy.

These include the Tees Valley Enterprise Zone, which was described as “bold and clever” by Eric Pickles, Communities and Local Government Minister, and numerous successful bids to the Regional Growth Fund to help North-East companies such as Cummins Engines, in Darlington, and firms within the Tees Valley chemicals industry.

Paul Woolston, chairman of the North East LEP, said the campaign was particularity timely, given that it followed the recent publication of the Lord Adonis report, More and Better Jobs: North-East International, which included recommendations such as doubling the number of apprentices to 13,000 a year and creating 60,000 private sector jobs.

Mr Woolston said: “If we have more control of our own destiny, it's more likely we will be more responsive to the specific needs of our region - we can be flexible and respond to opportunities.”

The campaign's aim for the Government to adopt the recommendations contained in the Heseltine Report mirrors a plea from the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) to implement the findings, including the need for a “single pot” approach to funding that should include transport, skills, housing and innovation.

Transport projects seen as key to the expansion of the region's economy by NECC, local authorities and the LEPs include improvements to the A1 in North Yorkshire and Gateshead, near the Angel of the North.