The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, has today signed the Heads of Terms for the Belfast City Deal, alongside the Belfast City Regional Deal partners and the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

This is a major milestone towards the completion of the first City Deal for Northern Ireland. The Belfast Region City Deal will see the UK Government invest £350 million into the Belfast Region over the next 15 years. It is proposed that this figure will be matched by the Northern Ireland Executive once the devolved institutions are restored.

The City Deal will be further bolstered by co-investment of upwards of £150m from Belfast Region City Deal partners and investment by the private sector is anticipated to bring the total investment package to over £1 billion.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP said:

I am absolutely delighted to sign the heads of terms for the Belfast City Deal today.

The UK Government has committed £350 million of funding to support and encourage economic development across the region, creating jobs and boosting prosperity.

I am also engaging closely with the Chancellor to secure a financial announcement for the Derry-Londonderry Region City Deal and help unlock the huge potential that Derry-Londonderry has to offer. The UK Government is committed to developing a comprehensive and ambitious set of City Deals across Northern Ireland and delivering a stronger economy that works for everyone.

It is hoped the deal will see the delivery of more than 20 projects to help create up to 20,000 new and better jobs alongside an increase in productivity levels, as well as having a positive impact on the most deprived communities, delivering a balanced spread of benefits across the region.

Speaking on behalf of the Belfast Region City Deal partners, Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Deirdre Hargey said:

Today’s signing of a Heads of Terms for the Belfast Region City Deal is a significant milestone in our journey towards substantial investment in inclusive regional regeneration.

It’s testament to the power of collaboration and partnership and we look forward to progressing plans with our wide range of partners, including our colleagues working to deliver a programme of investment for Derry-Londonderry and the North West region.

This is an investment which will improve quality of life for people living here and further enhance our attractiveness as a destination of choice for investors, visitors, new residents and students alike.

Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

This is tremendous news for the communities and businesses living and operating in the Belfast City region.

This transformative deal will bolster innovation, productivity and prosperity across the region, and I am delighted to see the hard work which has gone into this deal come to fruition.

The ambitious programme will help grow the region’s business strengths in life and health sciences; ICT, digital and creative industries, and advanced manufacturing. It will also support digital development and tourism-led regeneration across the entire region, underpinned by infrastructure developments and investment in skills to connect people to jobs and services.

For more information on the proposed programme of investment, click here. You can also follow #BRcitydeal on Twitter.

ENDS

Click Heads of Terms – Belfast Regions City Deal (PDF, 33.6KB, 1 page) for the full Heads of Terms document which sets out further details of the projects being proposed. All projects will be subject to the approval of final business cases.

Belfast Region City Deal incorporates six of the 11 councils in Northern Ireland:

• Antrim & Newtownabbey
• Ards & North Down
• Belfast
• Lisburn and Castlereagh
• Newry, Mourne & Down
• Mid & East Antrim

Alongside Queen’s University and Ulster University, and Regional Further Education colleges, including Belfast Met, Northern Regional College, South Eastern Regional College and the Southern Regional College, it provides a truly collaborative approach to this multi-million pound investment programme and helping to drive economic development across the region, boosting jobs, creating opportunity and encouraging further inward investment.

Some of the 22 proposed projects include:

• Innovation and digital – creating global centres of innovation excellence in partnership with enhanced digital capability and connectivity;
• Infrastructure – including Phase 2 of the Belfast Rapid Transit scheme;
• Tourism and regeneration – delivering a series of internationally visible tourism products and the transformation of key towns across the region; and *Employability and skills – facilitating a strong, complementary employability and skills package to deliver the right skills base to support the growth and opportunities created by this Belfast Region City Deal investment.

Paul was initially appointed Chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board with effect from 1 October 2009. His appointment was renewed for a further four years from 1 October 2013, and again in September 2017 for a further 18 months.

Paul spent his life as a commercial solicitor practising since qualification with the firm that is now Addleshaw Goddard, where he was the Senior Partner until 2010, specialising in commercial and corporate work. He read Law at Clare College Cambridge. He joined the firm of Addleshaw Sons and Latham on qualification, became Managing Partner in 1991, Senior Partner of Addleshaw Booth & Co in 1997 and Senior Partner of Addleshaw Goddard in 2003.

Alongside his professional life, he has held a variety of other posts, including as a member of the Board of the CBI and Chairman of the North West Business Leadership Team.

He is currently Chairman of Opera North and was, for 17 years, Chairman of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. He is also Chairman of the Feoffees (Trustees) of Chetham’s School of Music, and a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Manchester.

He was High Sheriff of Greater Manchester in 2014-15, and is currently a Trustee of Access Sport which is the principal charity he chose to support during his year as High Sheriff.

This role is remunerated at a rate of £63,020 per annum. This extension has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Paul has made no such declarations.

Hemant Patel was born and educated in London before graduating from the University of Manchester having studied Physics with Astrophysics. He then moved into industry to train as a Chartered Management Accountant.

He has worked at various multi-national companies including Mars Inc and SC Johnson in financial, commercial and marketing roles before moving with his family to Yorkshire to join Asda in 2003. At Asda, Hemant carried out various roles in finance including Commercial Finance Director and Retail Finance Director as well as running Asda’s own label business and leading business reinvention as Director of Strategy. Hemant then moved on to be Director of Online at the financial service provider, Provident Financial plc, with responsibility for their online loans businesses. He is now Finance Director of the Pub Co at Greene King plc, leading the finance function for the business’s 1,700 managed pubs.

Until 2017, Hemant was Chairman of Interplay Theatre, a Leeds based company using the arts to work with children in special schools nationally and socially excluded children locally. He was given the Arts and Business Individual of the Year award in 2007 for his work with this charity.

Hemant is lead non-executive director and Chairman of the Royal Armouries Trading and Enterprises Ltd Board as well as the Royal Armouries Audit and Finance and Capital Development Committees. He became a Trustee of the Royal Armouries in July 2010.

This role is not remunerated. This extension has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Hemant has made no such declarations.

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After more than 40 years in the emergency services, “Taff” Jones has retired from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) fire service at Porton Down.

Originally from North Wales, Taff joined what was then the Chemical Defence Establishment in 1978.

All we had in those days was two Bedford trucks, a bowser and a fire pump. And the fire crews also doubled as the ambulance drivers.

Taff has seen huge changes at Porton Down over the four decades. “When I arrived we lived on site and the kids went to school here too. It was very much a community, even with its own garden allotments. Now there are thousands more people and many of the old buildings have been replaced. We used to operate out of some old workshops, now we have a purpose built fire station.

The kit we have got now is incredible. Chemical detection suits, HazMat [hazardous materials] suits, cutting gear – it’s a world apart from the hammers and crowbars we used to have.

Part of those changes involved the fire service being contracted out to facilities management providers, and the service is now run by Serco. “But I’ve always considered myself a site man,” added Taff.

He’ll be kept busy with children and grandchildren, and is also looking forward to building up his occasional painting and decorating jobs into a business.

I’ll miss the camaraderie and being part of a team,” said Taff, who retires as Watch Manager at the end of March. “I can truly say it has been a pleasure to be a part of the Porton Down site. I would like to wish everyone all the best in the future as it continues to grow in size and capabilities.

Fire Station Manager Russ Neal said:

Taff has been one my senior leaders since my arrival on site in 2008. His knowledge, skills and attitude have been exemplary and he will be sorely missed by all at Porton Down.