Oxfordshire Growth Board secures £215 million Government investment deal for the county

The Oxfordshire Growth Board announces the Oxfordshire councils and the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) have reached an outline Housing and Growth Agreement with Government (November 22nd).This will see an additional £215 million of investment over the next five years to build infrastructure, support the delivery of new homes and boost economic productivity across the county.The ambitious and comprehensive investment programme will help deliver sustainable development with a focus on quality of place and more affordable housing. It will be overseen by the Growth Board, working in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency, the Highways Agency and other partners.The Growth Board wants the five-year deal to be the first stage in a sustained partnership with Government to secure the ongoing investment needed to deliver properly planned growth and economic development over the coming years. This will support councils to achieve the ambition of 100,000 new homes across the county over the period 2011-2031, as identified through the 2014 countywide Strategic Housing Market Assessment and Local Plans.The Government recognises the importance of Oxfordshire’s knowledge intensive economy for UK plc with two universities and unique research institutions. It has committed to work with OxLEP to develop a Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) to back Oxfordshire’s world class science and innovation assets and identify and grow new sectors. Support will also be provided to help scale up high-growth companies, to identify and address specific skills needs and to attract further investment and expansion of the Science Vale and Didcot Enterprise Zones.Under the terms of the deal the Government will provide Oxfordshire’s six local authorities with £60 million of funding for affordable housing, £150 million of funding (£30m for five years) for infrastructure improvements that will benefit existing communities and unlock new development sites. Oxfordshire councils are already committing in excess of £340 million to infrastructure and housing investment over the period.Government will also provide £5 million in capacity funding to help meet the costs of taking the investment programme forward. This will include the development of a Joint Strategic Spatial Plan, providing a county-wide integrated planning framework to guide the sustainable growth.Separate bids to the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), to support the development of the Didcot Garden Town, and West Oxfordshire and North of Oxford Garden Villages, are still being considered by Government with decisions expected in the new year.