Coalition government axes £2bn of Labour Projects
18 June 2010
Treasury Chief Secretary, Danny Alexander, yesterday announced plans to cancel 12 projects worth £2billion, and suspend a further 12 projects, worth £8.5billion, pending review.
Amongst the cancelled projects, all agreed since January 1st are an £80million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters, and the Future Jobs Fund.
The Labour government had agreed an £80million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters International Limited for expansion. The loan would have paid for a 15 tonne press, allowing the company to supply specialist components to the nuclear industry. Forgemasters had expected around 180 skilled jobs to be created by the expansion. Another project in Sheffield has also been cut - £13million was to be used by development agency Yorkshire Forward to purchase a former steelworks and develop an industrial park on the site.
Also scrapped are various schemes aimed at the young unemployed. £290 million had been promised to a fund aimed at creating 150,000 new jobs for the young, long-term unemployed. A further £480million was to provide assistance to those who had been out of work for six months – initiatives included work and training places, recruitment subsidies for employers, and more support for people starting up businesses.
An announcement from the Education Secretary is expected in the next couple of days, related to the Building Schools for the Future programme, as the coalition claims that spending has been over-committed to this project.