Mayors in England to be given more power to fuel innovation and boost jobs in their region through Local Innovation Partnerships Fund
Mayors in areas including Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, and Greater London will be handed control of Local Innovation Partnership funding designed to boost the new industries and technologies that will drive the growth, jobs and businesses of the future.
After the next Spending Review, Mayors of Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will be given the ability to decide how and where to target regional R&D investment through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund on their own doorstep.
This decision is driven by the government’s commitment to empower local leaders to make the right funding decisions for their communities and unlock investment in their region.
The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund supports partnerships of local leaders, businesses and universities to turn existing research breakthroughs into practical solutions that back local businesses, create jobs and improve people’s lives.
Joining mayors and local officials on a visit to Liverpool today (Monday 1st June), Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed plans to pass future control of the Local Innovation Partnership Fund in England to regional leaders, with the change expected to kick in during the next Spending Review period.
Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said:
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:
The £500 million committed last year for the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund between 2026-31 will power innovative businesses in 17 regions across the country.
Today, the local partnership in Liverpool City Region has announced that two projects led by the University of Liverpool are set to receive £23.7m of the £30 million Local Innovation Partnership Funding for the region.
One project, AIM HI, will accelerate the application of artificial intelligence and robotics in materials chemistry, to increase productivity and new business growth. The other project, NBIC LIVE, will establish the world’s first centre of innovation excellence dedicated to AI-enabled rapid innovation of antimicrobial, anti-viral, and anti-biofilm surfaces and materials.
The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund builds on the success and knowledge gained by previous regional innovation funding programmes, which have generated hundreds of high-quality jobs and hundreds of millions of pounds worth of private co-investment.
This will ensure that the decisions on how the fund’s future support will be even more locally led than before, helping them to be directly targeted to the businesses, researchers and projects with the most potential in their communities.
The Local Innovation Partnerships Fund is part of the government’s record £86 billion R&D settlement until 2030. The level of funding delivered through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund in future will be subject to affordability to be determined at future Spending Reviews.
The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology and UKRI will now work closely with mayors over the coming months to determine the best way to deliver this commitment to devolution.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said:
Professor Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool said: