Trade and Industry secretary Stephen Byers has today revealed plans to boost regional economies.

He said £150M would be available to aid regional development in a plan aimed at improving the productivity of small and medium-sized businesses.

And every region will have a manufacturing centre of excellence established.

He told the Labour Party conference in Brighton:"Different communities face different problems. We need a radical approach to address these issues, developing local solutions to meet local problems.

"Under-performance by regions has serious economic costs and they also have disturbing social consequences poverty, crime, ill health and social exclusion.

"We now need a new approach to this deep-seated problem, a new regional economic policy for the new economy."

Mr Byers said he wanted to promote regional innovation, support small business, provide venture capital, expand e-commerce opportunities and help business start-ups.

"We are establishing a £150M fund to ensure all regions can improve their performance on innovation," he said.

Read the full speech here.

See the live webcast here.