Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget included a number of important measures for the South West, including
- New mayoral devolution deal for the West of England (Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset), giving it “significant” new powers over improved transport, planning, skills and employment.
- This area will also receive control of a £900m investment fund over 30 years to boost economic growth
- £3m to improve rail stations across the South West
- £16m Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (ERGF) payment to Dyson for battery research in Malmesbury
- £8m during 2016-17 to fill around 159,000 potholes across region
- £14.5m in grants to extend ultrafast broadband coverage in the South West. The National Infrastructure Commission will use the South West as a case study on how the UK can become a world leader in 5G
- £620,000 to Being Brunel: the National Brunel Project – a unique public museum and visitor experience dedicated to Isambard Kingdom Brunel being developed in buildings alongside the ss Great Britain
- £500,000 to fund a study into a new junction 18a on the M4 to link with the A4174 Avon Ring Road
- £19m funding for community-led housing schemes in areas most impacted by holiday homes, using Stamp Duty Land Tax revenue raised from the higher rates for purchases of additional properties.
