Impact of the NWDA
The Department of Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) commissioned
PricewaterhouseCoopers to provide an independent assessment of the
impact of the spending of the nine Regional Development Agencies.
The "Impact of
Regional Development Agency Spending" report, which
was released on 31 March 2009, found that for every £1 invested by
the RDAs, an average of £4.50 of economic output was put back into
the regional economies.
This means that the Regional Development Agencies have turned
their £5.1 billion of evaluated expenditure into an overall benefit
of over £23 billion.
As part of the report, 65 programmes and projects led by the
NWDA were evaluated - which represents 60% of total NWDA activity
since Regional Development Agencies were launched in 1999. The
evaluation found that the NWDA’s performance was either average or
above average in terms of return on investment.
The report highlighted a number of Agency-invested projects and
programmes which made a significant return on their initial
investment:
Agenda for Change
The manufacturing support service aims to improve productivity,
innovation and raise the profile of the sector principally to
engage more young people. The programme has:
- Achieved £45 million Gross Value Added achieved against a £10
million investment, which increases to £110 million when projected
lifetime benefits are added
- Created or safeguarded 1,200 jobs
Project ACCESS
The £17 million broadband programme for Cumbria and North
Lancashire, which is now complete. The programme has:
- Achieved £42 million Gross Value Added for the region
- Provided access to broadband for 99.8% of businesses and
residents in Cumbria and North Lancashire
- Established broadband connections for almost 17,000 businesses,
which represents 71% of the total number of businesses in the area
compared to just 7% before the project was launched
Project Unity
The creation of a new world-class university for Manchester
recognised amongst the top tier of university institutions, which
is now complete. The project has:
- Achieved £54 million Gross Value Added against a £20 million
investment, which increases to £252 million when projected lifetime
benefits are added
- Levered in approximately £145 million of third party investment
into the University’s spin-out companies, which is more than all of
the investment transactions carried out in the 10-year period prior
to the creation of the new University
Liverpool Commercial District
The creation of Liverpool Commercial District to improve the
trading environment and encourage private sector investment into
the city. The project has:
- Achieved £56 million Gross Value Added against a £7 million
investment, which increases to £289 million when projected lifetime
benefits are added
- Created or safeguarded almost 1,500 jobs
Strategic Regional Sites
The development of a strong offering of employment sites. The
programme has:
- Achieved £59 million Gross Value Added against a £56 million
investment, which increases to £307 million when projected lifetime
benefits are added
- Created over 1,500 jobs
- Levered £122 million of investment from the private sector,
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and other public sector sources
Regional Marketing Programme
The marketing programme aims to promote the region as a location
to visit, live, work and invest in. The programme has:
- Achieved £119 million Gross Value Added against a £16 million
investment
- Is likely to have a future potential impact of £100 million
annually on tourism revenue in the region
NWDA Strategic & Economic Role
The NWDA’s strategic added value role – in terms of leadership
and bringing partners together in the Northwest was also outlined
within the report. The highlighted projects include:
The report also highlighted the NWDA’s role in providing swift
and flexible support following economic shocks, including our role
in providing business support in the wake of Foot and Mouth Disease
in 2002.