Recommendation 16

We asked the Department why there is such a bias towards London in the number of jobs forecast to be created, noting that for London this figure is 16,000, which is more than the combined total for Scotland, the north-east of England, north-west England and Yorkshire and the Humber.38 The Department said that in the past, the support it offered was reactive to where businesses wanted to invest. This was often in London and the South East because these were the areas overseas investors knew most about, but now the Department identifies and promotes opportunities across the country.39