Cornwall is well placed to play a leading role in decade of renewal, says Lord John Hutton, Labour Peer and Chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum.
When Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her first Budget speech to the House of Commons, she spoke of the Government’s mission to deliver a decade of renewal, with an economy that is growing, creating wealth and opportunity for all.
Underpinning that renewal will be a new industrial strategy, billed as a 10-year plan for the economy. Ministers have been consulting on what that strategy should look like, but its stated aim is to deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest in high-growth sectors and drive long-term economic growth.
There is an excellent fit between the UK Industrial Strategy Green Paper and Cornwall’s own local growth proposals – called the Local Growth Plan. And I believe our area of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is poised to play a leading role in reshaping the UK’s economy over the next 10 years.
Our distinctive sectors – rooted in our unique geological and environmental resources and a history of innovation – include critical minerals, renewable energy, space and marine. With targeted investment, these sectors can transform Cornwall into a powerhouse for sustainable, high-growth industries that will deliver regional and national prosperity.
It’s important therefore that Ministers look beyond the city regions and understand the vital contribution that Cornwall can make in meeting the aims of the industrial strategy, boosting resilience and delivering regional growth.
This includes the journey to net zero, where Cornwall’s maritime and renewable energy heritage can make a major contribution to developing the abundant floating offshore wind resources in the Celtic Sea, powering millions of homes with clean electricity.
Cornwall’s critical minerals sector is already recognised as another vital resource, providing a secure, sustainable domestic supply of tech metals like lithium and tin that are vital to the energy transition.
And our core agricultural and food industries can help build greater resilience in the UK’s domestic food supply chain, helping to feed the nation in an environmentally sustainable way.
We have been very clear that unlocking these opportunities, and more, will require sustained investment, and we have seen how public funding invested strategically in  Cornwall over the past decades has delivered local growth that has significantly outperformed similar areas.
What’s crucial now in my view is that Government continues to foster these improvements in our local economic performance as part of its mission to deliver growth across the UK. Shifting the fundamentals of our economy is not something you do overnight, and that is why Government’s commitment to longer timeframes and greater certainty around policy and funding for local growth is so welcome.
In the short-term the Chancellor has committed £900m to continuing the Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) for local investment in the English regions for another year. If that is allocated along the same lines as Cornwall and Scilly’s existing SPF programme, then our area could receive up to £49m from March 2025.
Thereafter, from March 2026, the Chancellor has promised ‘wider funding reforms’. We don’t know what that looks like yet, but what we urge Ministers to consider as they draw up the UK Industrial Strategy is how they can continue to support a local growth agenda in Cornwall and Scilly that has so much to offer the UK.
This will allow us to build business confidence and leverage in private sector investment to help fulfil the potential of our economy, in line with the aims of that emerging industrial strategy.
Failure to do so, I believe, risks undermining 25 years of strategic investment that is at last bearing fruit.
The goal is simple: build an empowered Cornwall, and one that can thrive with greater economic independence.
Additionally, we need a fairer funding model that accounts for our distinct needs, from the socio-economic factors affecting our communities to the costs associated with providing services across a sparsely populated and geographically dispersed area.
Of course, we recognise the challenges ahead. The Government faces huge competing demands on its purse, which is why we are offering a partnership that can combine local and national ambitions – and deliver on both.
By aligning our efforts, we can grow the economy sustainably and equitably, transforming people’s lives and creating lasting, tangible improvements.
By investing in Cornwall today, we lay the groundwork for a stronger, sustainable, and fairer tomorrow, and a legacy of Good Growth that will endure for generations. We can drive that promised decade of renewal.
