Look at south-west England

The south-west is the largest English region (it is 350 kilometres from Land’s End to north Gloucestershire), with over 18 per cent of England’s land area (24,000 square kilometres) and the highest percentage (75 per cent) of land classified as rural of any English region. The region has a population of over 5 million (10 per cent of the UK whole), the fastest-growing of any English region (a 12 per cent increase since 1996), with 54 per cent of people living in rural areas. The population increase is largely due to people moving into the region. The environment includes over 60 per cent of the UK’s HeritageCoast, almost half the UK’s designated bathing waters, and many of the UK’s rarest and most endangered habitats.

The region has one of the smaller economies of the English regions, with a gross value added (GVA) of £75 billion, accounting for over 9 per cent of the total GVA for England. Labour costs are 5 per cent below the national average, the business survival rate is the best in the country, and the average daily commute (22 minutes) is very low. Four of the region’s six counties top the UK’s ‘best place in which to live and work’ chart, however there are considerable disparities in GVA, income per capita and employment. Bristol, Bath, north Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Dorset generally have more dynamic economies than Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and Devon.

Employment rates are high, with 79 per cent of the working-age population being economically active; however, this masks north–south variations. The region generally has a good communications infrastructure, including modern airports, top-quality road, rail and sea links, and high-speed broadband access. More than 27 per cent of the population is educated to degree standard or above, and the region benefits from the UK’s highest rates of relocation of professionally qualified people. High productivity, relatively easy access to markets, good business support services, training, and research and development are other strengths.

The south-west enjoys one of the most diversified regional economies in the United Kingdom. Crucial sectors are:

·advanced engineering (aerospace, automotive and measuring instruments), with 60,000 employees (3 per cent of the regional total), generating more than £3 billion

·biotechnology, with internationally recognised expertise, employing around 15,000 people in 500 companies; employment saw a 48 per cent increase between 1998 and 2004

·creative industries, contributing nearly £2 billion in GVA from just under £10 billion revenues and employing just under 150,000 people, many employed in media clusters

·environmental technologies, which are expanding rapidly with 1,300 enterprises employing 20,000-plus people, contributing £1.3 billion to the economy; the number of jobs could increase by 200 per cent within a few years

·renewable energy, with some of the best wave energy resources in Europe, and the possibility of producing 10 per cent of the government’s onshore wind energy production targets for 2010

·financial services, with nearly 250,000 people employed in banking, insurance, pensions and other financial services sectors, centred on the Bristol area

·food and drink, consisting of over 3,000 food and drink producers (and a very strong organic sector), producing £2.6 billion in GVA with 1.8 million hectares of agricultural land in a very mild climate

·ICT, employing 70,000 people and producing £2.5 billion GVA from wireless communications, optoelectronics, semiconductors, software and information storage

·marine, offering 700 miles of coastline with natural harbours and waterside facilities that are home to over 32,000 people in 2,700 companies generating an annual turnover of over £1.3 billion

·micro- and nano-technologies, being developed through university research departments in areas like silicon and compound semiconductors, e-beam lithography and electron microscopy.

The region has more than 3,000 miles of major roads (including the M4 and M5 motorways) and 27,000 miles of minor roads. Some 20 million visitors are drawn there annually by its natural, built and cultural heritage. The region’s environment is vital not just for its own sake, but because of the contribution it makes to the economy and overall quality of life there. These include: the arts, with the Bristol Old Vic theatre, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Newlyn and St Ives artists’ schools; sport, with the World Surfing Championship at Newquay, Bath, Bristol and Gloucester rugby clubs, and sailing; the landscape, including the White Horse, the Cerne Abbas Giant and Stonehenge; and gardens at the Eden Project, Heligan, Tresco and Stourhead.

The region has 13 higher education institutes (a student population of nearly 350,000), a relatively low crime rate and high life expectancy. Its culture and sporting facilities are rich and diverse, while its history, geography and wildlife are some of the best in the UK. Urgent action is required, however, to provide new homes, affordable housing, and improved education and health services.