Nick Clegg, the Deputy PM, has announced that another twenty areas will win “city deals” in an effort to help them boost economic growth. The new areas – on top of eight larger cities given deals last year – will enter negotiations with the government over the next year to take on extra powers and responsibilities. They will have more autonomy over how to spend budgets currently controlled by Whitehall in areas including training, skills and road building. In return, they must demonstrate they have a strong plan for local growth. Preston is the only city in the North West to have been granted this status.

County Councillor Bill Winlow welcomes the announcement  and says, “This is very good news for Preston and should  help the city to develop the highways infrastructure necessary to support the big housing developments in the north of the city and will ensure our  future prosperity. The Local Enterprise Partnership is central to the deal.”