Response to the Private Member’s Bill on Regional Economic Imbalance

We welcome the opportunity to comment on the proposals underpinning Sinead McLaughlin MLA’s Private Member’s Bill on Regional Economic Imbalance. Our comments follow in three sections:

First, some reflections and issues relating to how economic imbalance in Northern Ireland is to be defined.

Secondly, comments on measurement of regional economic imbalance and potential indicators.

Thirdly, general comments on implementation, Departmental responsibilities and accountability.

CCBC broadly welcomes the initiative to bring forward legislation to address regional economic imbalance in Northern Ireland in a more systematic way, and that economic imbalance should be broadly understood as the result of both economic underperformance and lower living standards. CCBC believes that any such legislation, informed by similar initiatives in other legislatures, should carefully define how it approaches the concept of economic imbalance and the differences in economic performance and living standards between geographic regions within Northern Ireland.

Whilst the simplest approach may be to aim to fully close the gap between peripheral regions and the more prosperous centre this may result in an unachievable goal being set. It may also ignore the agglomeration and other economic advantages that more central regions possess and will continue to benefit from in future, as well as the functional linkages that cross administrative boundaries, whether at the Local Government District level or at jurisdictional level. Legislation aimed at building balanced regional development needs to encourage the optimum use of capabilities and resources throughout and across regions, including on a trans-boundary basis where relevant, focusing investment in physical infrastructure, regional sectoral clustering and human capital, proportionate to their roles and potential within the spatial hierarchy

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