The North East England Chamber of Commerce is preparing to feed the voice of North East businesses straight to the heart of government with the launch of its summer consultation ahead of the Autumn Statement.

The Chamber’s Policy and Knowledge team will run a robust consultation, coordinating evidence from across the region’s business sectors and local areas to work in collaboration with government to support a stronger, fairer North East.

The consultation launch comes as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced a new streamlined set of levelling up funding arrangements to support devolution and help local areas maximise the value of national funding.

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This is another Budget win for the Chamber, following its March submission where the business representative organisation called for greater flexibility to achieve better efficiency for funding transferred from Whitehall to the region.

Rhiannon Bearne, executive director of policy and representation at the North East England Chamber of Commerce, said: “The announcement of the government’s commitment to a simplified approach to levelling up funding is a big win for our members.

“In the Chamber’s Spring Budget submission, we called for the expansion and evolution of single-pot, multi-year funding arrangements to provide local areas with long-term certainty and the ability to prioritise investment according to targeted regional need.

“Along with several positive measures to simplify and streamline local funding, the government has committed to significant long-term settlements for Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities at the next Spending Review.

“We are urging the government to act sooner, extending this freedom to the North East’s Combined Authorities where they are ready to take up the mantle. This will unlock public and private capital, and spur innovation, building on the region’s strong collaboration between the public and private sectors.”

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Rhiannon added: “It’s key that businesses, charities and public sector partners get involved in our Autumn Statement consultation so that we can ensure, as a Chamber, we are truly representing North East businesses. It’s the voice of our more than 2,000 members – from the smallest digital agency to the largest engineering firm – that makes sure we work with national and regional leaders to ensure the region continues to grow and prosper.”

The consultation process will happen via regular sector-specialist forums, ‘deep dive’ roundtables and local area meetings, as well as conversations with Chamber engagement managers and other sector bodies.

The Chamber will work with its members to understand the issues businesses are facing right now, and into the future, focusing on the practical, sensible steps government can take to ensure the North East is the best place to do business.