• General Motors successful in bid for support to build new Vivaro van in Luton
• Funding for regional growth has been cut by two-thirds, claims Labour
Nick Clegg said today that more than 100,000 jobs would be created or protected by government plans to invest £450m in businesses across England.
Announcing the results of the first round of funding from Whitehall's regional growth fund (RGF), the deputy prime minister said that public money would be used to support 50 bids from companies that had shown how the investment would stimulate growth and create jobs.
The successful bids included a proposal from General Motors to build the next-generation Vivaro van in Luton; the development of a former eye hospital in Manchester into a biomedical centre of excellence; and the construction of a manufacturing plant on Teesside to develop resins for food and drink packaging.
Clegg said: "I was bowled over by the quality of the bids. This money will now help create and safeguard jobs in some of the communities worst hit by the economic downturn.
"Today is a step towards rebalancing our economy away from an unhealthy overreliance on a small number of industries and a few areas. We need to spread opportunity across the whole country, drawing on our many talents. I know that with the right support these businesses can work with their communities and together play their part in leading the country back into prosperity."
Ministers believe that the RGF – worth £1.4bn in total – will encourage private sector growth in areas particularly vulnerable to cuts in public spending, and a second round of bidding will begin today. They expect more than 27,000 jobs to be directly created and safeguarded, with a knock-on effect for suppliers and local economies.
John Denham, shadow business secretary, said that 464 projects worth £2.78bn had been submitted for only £450m of funding.
"By cutting funding for regional growth by two-thirds, the Tory-led government is choking off the funding needed for regions to grow and create the jobs our economy needs. The government is allocating £1.4bn over three years to projects, two-thirds less than the £1.4bn a year Labour were investing through the regional development agencies alone.
"The desire to cut too far and too fast has caused growth to be revised down and the unemployment forecast to rise, all while government is holding back support for businesses looking for investment which will help regions to create jobs and ease reliance on the public sector. There are more losers than winners with today's announcement."