Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage has today welcomed the Government’s announcement that parts of Gosport and Portsmouth have successfully been added to the UK’s map of Assisted Areas.
This status makes local businesses eligible to bid for additional funding and tax breaks to create jobs, invest in new premises or machinery and grow. Programmes in England that offer such regional aid include the Regional Growth Fund and the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.
At the start of the year Caroline wrote a joint letter, with Portsmouth North MP, Penny Mordaunt, to the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, asking officials to recommend wards in Gosport and Portsmouth be granted Assisted Area status in order to help combat the economic decline which the region has recently endured. This is just part of Caroline and Penny’s continued campaign to secure further Government support for our local region.
Welcoming the announcement, Caroline said:
“This is excellent news for Gosport and Portsmouth, particularly in light of BAE’s decision to terminate shipbuilding in the area last year which has had a considerable impact on local industries.
I am delighted that our area has been identified as having real potential for business and manufacturing growth and am confident that today’s announcement will provide a much needed boost to the local business and manufacturing communities.”
Caroline has a strong track record of securing key funding packages for her Gosport constituency. She has played a key role in getting investment for the Daedalus Enterprise Zone and other local growth initiatives including funding for road improvements at Newgate Lane.