Business leaders in Greater Manchester have called on the Government to give city regions a "central role in boosting innovation" in the upcoming Levelling Up White Paper.
The UK Government’s White Paper is due to be published early next year and is set to detail how ministers plan to improve living standards, stimulate business growth and ensure opportunities are accessible to all.
Innovation Greater Manchester is the city region’s blueprint for working with Government to direct innovation and R&D spending to the most effective projects.
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Chris Oglesby, chair of the Innovation Greater Manchester steering group, said: "Innovation Greater Manchester is a serious, positive offer to work in partnership with Government to level up communities, attract investment and transition to net zero.
"We share the Government’s aim of increasing science funding more broadly across the UK, but we need to ensure this investment lands in the right places.
"The most efficient and effective way to do this is a collaborative approach, with Government partnering with local businesses, investors, R&D organisations and public sector bodies.
"We were happy to host the Science and Technology Committee in Manchester and welcome its findings – particularly its recommendation that Government draws on local expertise to drive innovation ecosystems in places like Greater Manchester.
"In Innovation Greater Manchester we have the most-developed blueprint in the country for levelling up through innovation and our approach can serve as a model for the rest of the UK."
Lou Cordwell, chair of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GM LEP), added: "Innovation policy and R&D spending can play a key role in driving regional economic growth.
"Through Innovation Greater Manchester we can work with Government to target funding at businesses which can pioneer the technologies of tomorrow, in turn creating jobs and attracting wider investment. The blueprint is led by business and modelled on approaches that have worked elsewhere in the world.
"Innovation is at the heart of our Economic Vision for Greater Manchester. By linking industry and academia with local and national governments we can ensure R&D spending helps the Government deliver the levelling up outcomes it wants to see."
