Liverpool submits £1.4bn Recovery Plan

Liverpool has set out an unprecedented £1.4 billion plan to help boost the nation’s post-coronavirus recovery and preparations for a post-Brexit economy.

Commissioned by the Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, the city has submitted a 178-page report to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak outlining how the city aims to prevent a socio-economic crisis deeper than the 1980s recession, with a multi-layered programme which if delivered, will create 25,600 jobs, provide an additional 12,000 construction jobs and more than 9,700 apprenticeships.

The Liverpool Economic Recovery Plan (LERP) focuses on four key themes – Innovation, Housing, Employment and Creativity – with the goal of providing jobs and supporting people in accessing lifelong careers in the areas which will drive the UK economy in future decades.

Anderson and Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram set out for Downing Street how the vision aims to underpin this recent growth and address the risk of mass unemployment when the government’s emergency employment and business support measures are phased out from this Autumn. The paper has identified more than 25 projects – most of which could begin before the end of 2020. Totalling £1.4 billion, these projects include a new cruise terminal, a major housing development next to the International Festival Gardens site, the next phase of the city’s health innovation campus at Paddington Village as well as a Science and Tech Innovation Centre as part of the Liverpool John Moores University development at Copperas Hill in the city’s Knowledge Quarter (KQ Liverpool).

Joe Anderson said: “The Covid-19 lockdown has left cities like Liverpool in a state of economic paralysis and the option of doing two things – wait for events to unfold or take action. Liverpool has acted. This recovery plan is a blueprint for a new Liverpool. Forged by ambition and confidence to be innovative in how we create new skills, new homes and new jobs, and it has the weight of the entire city behind it. Liverpool has undergone a renaissance over the past two decades and we are not about to let the momentum slip. Our knowledge, digital and visitor economies are flourishing and this recovery plan sets out a detailed strategy to build on those platforms. By investing in these key projects we can renew this city and its position it as a gateway for Britain for the 21st century.

“This recovery plan is immensely detailed and the sheer volume of partners involved across both public and private sectors from a wide range of disciplines underlines our commitment to seize what is quite simply a once in a lifetime opportunity to reset Liverpool. It has been researched, analysed and fully costed and I’m confident the government will see that Liverpool means business. This recovery plan is all about partnerships – and we need the government to act as one too. The return on investment is huge, a stimulus package that will not just benefit Liverpool – but also the region and the country.”

Co-signed by the Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, the LERP also has the backing of 72 leading figures from the city’s commercial, legal, financial and cultural sectors including Liverpool FC Chief Executive Peter Moore, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool Professor Dame Janet Beer and John Godfrey of the fund Legal & General.