Byrne celebrates confirmation of £1.3 billion for East Birmingham regeneration

Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the East Birmingham taskforce, today confirmed that £1.3 billion has now been secured for the regeneration of 'the land between the High Speed stations' in East Birmingham.

The figures were presented as a package and confirmed at the East Birmingham Inclusive Growth Board, chaired by Mr. Byrne, on Friday. The funding, which will flow over the next 10-20 years, is spread between three key programs for which the Board has bid from the government and could unlock hundreds of millions of pounds in additional infrastructure investment.

The £1.3 billion investment confirmed is as follows:

• The East Birmingham/North Solihull Levelling Up Zone, officially designated on April 1st, 2024, covers the whole of East Birmingham & North Solihull.

• The East Birmingham & North Solihull Growth Zone, which provides the Council with Business Rate Retention for 25 years across an area of 183 hectares in East Birmingham, with an estimated value of £456 million over 25 years. This fund is available for investment or to enable borrowing at the Council’s discretion.

• The Birmingham element of the West Midlands Investment Zone (Birmingham Knowledge Quarter/BKQ), includes business rate retention for 25 years across an area of 135 hectares, valued at £635 million over 25 years, flexible funding access of £160 million, and a cluster of plots with a 5-year package of tax relief fully funded by the Government.

Early investments for the agreed funding now include:

• The development of a business park around the Washwood Heath HS2 depot and network control center on the old LDV Alstom site in Ward End.

• The creation of a new stadium and "sports quarter" at the Birmingham Wheels site with Birmingham City Football Club, where a £17m Levelling Up Fund project for site remediation is now underway.

• A £20m Levelling Up Fund project for the National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat is now underway at Tyseley Energy Park.
  

Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the East Birmingham Inclusive Growth Board, said:

"This is quite simply one of the biggest investments we've seen in East Birmingham since World War II and, together with the soon-to-arrive High Speed 2, is an absolute game-changer.

East Birmingham has the worst unemployment, poverty, and child poverty in Britain, but for over a decade, it's been clear to me that High Speed 2 could transform our part of Britain - as long as we got our hands on the investment that allowed us to connect local people to the opportunities of the future.

For almost three years, we've been patiently beavering away to get in the bids to government departments to assemble the funding, and I'm delighted that for the first time, we can now confirm £1.3 billion is on the table for us to invest."