Merseyside Brussels Office

Merseyside: A Profile

In Merseyside, we have been in the forefront of innovation and action in economic development in the United Kingdom and Europe, driven by the exceptional challenges we have faced. Partnerships and partnership working are now well entrenched. One such example being the way we manage the Merseyside Brussels Office.

Merseyside, a sub-region of the North West of England, faces a unique set of economic and social problems. The sub-region suffers from the following problems:

· Population declining by more than 20%
· Higher than average unemployment with deep rooted long term unemployment
· Low levels of job creation
· Lower than average educational attainment rates for young people leaving school
· Low levels of competitiveness with a poor track record in new business formation
· Areas of deprivation within Merseyside

Partners across the region have come together to produce a strategy for the area to run up to 2010. This strategy, the Merseyside Economic Strategy, is designed to identify the constraints which currently affect the region's performance and highlight the opportunities and priority actions the area must deliver. The Merseyside Economic Strategy sets out a vision for change. It sets out a broad framework for the regeneration of the area, the context in which the Objective 1 programme will operate between 2000-2006 and clearly identifies priorities and key actions for Merseyside as a sub-region within the wider North West.

The vision for change for the area is based on 10 key objectives:

· Increasing the competitiveness of existing businesses
· Exploiting the region's knowledge base
· Attracting and encouraging investment
· Creating and encouraging an entrepreneurial culture
· Developing the regional centre (Liverpool) as a magnet to attract people and business to the   city-region
· Developing a premier image for the city-region
· Maximising external linkages i.e. exports
· Raising educational standards and developing a culture of lifelong learning
· Increasing the motivation and employability of all residents
· Developing an employment rich economy

Underpinning all these objectives is the wish to promote an understanding, use and development of Information Communication Technology, Social Inclusion and Equal Opportunities.

These objectives highlight the main areas of interest for the region and provide a set of guiding policy themes which Merseyside wishes to explore and develop.

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