Growth Deal 1

In January 2015, OxLEP secured £108.5m from the Government’s Local Growth Fund (LGF) to support economic growth in the area.

This substantial investment from Government will bring forward at least £100m of additional investment from local partners and the private sector. Combined together this will create a total new investment package of £208.5m for the OxLEP.

By 2021, this Deal will create at least 6,000 jobs and allow 4,000 homes to be built.

The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Central Government have agreed to co-invest in the following jointly-agreed priorities:

• Headington Phase 1 & Eastern Arc Transport Improvements £12.5m (£8.2m Local Growth Fund) - a package of junction and local road improvements to support growth in the Headington area of Oxford - a centre for medical research and the location of the bio-escalator at Oxford University Old Road campus, which was part-funded via the Oxford City Deal. This project will be delivered by Oxfordshire County Council.
• Oxfordshire Flood Risk Management Scheme £88.35m (£25.85m Local Growth Fund) - a comprehensive package of measures to mitigate the risks of damage to homes, businesses and transport connections caused by excessive flooding. This project will be delivered by The Environment Agency.
• Upstream Flood Storage at Northway £1.9m (£0.6m Local Growth Fund) - a comprehensive package of measures to mitigate the risks of damage to homes, businesses and transport connections caused by excessive flooding. This project will be delivered by Oxford City Council.
• Centre for Applied Superconductivity £6.5m (4.5m Local Growth Fund) - a new centre of innovation to coordinate the interaction between key industry players, Oxford University, cryogenics companies, and end users (including SMEs) on the Harwell campus and at the Culham Centre for Fusion Research Campus. This project will be delivered by The University of Oxford.
• Science Vale Cycle Network improvements £4.9m (£4.5m Local Growth Fund) - a sustainable transport scheme providing greater connectivity between Science Vale and the newly improved Didcot station by bike. This project will be delivered by Oxfordshire County Council.
• Oxfordshire Centre for Technology and Innovation £7.8m (£4.5m Local Growth Fund) - development of a Technology and Innovation Training Centre in Oxford to address skills shortages across engineering, electrical, design, and emerging technologies. This project will be delivered by Activate Learning.
• Didcot Station Car Park Expansion (Foxhall Rd) £23m (9.5m Local Growth Fund) - packages of measures for car park expansion including construction of a deck access car park on the existing Foxhall Road car park. Part of the expansion and improvement of Didcot station as a key gateway to Science Vale high tech cluster and the Enterprise Zone. This project will be delivered by Great Western Railway.
• Advanced Engineering and Technology Skills Centre £5.9m (£4m Local Growth Fund) - a collaboration with Abingdon and Witney college, the centre will address local, regional and national skills shortages in Science Technology Engineering and Maths subject areas by supplying skilled technicians at Harwell Oxford and elsewhere in Oxfordshire; and deploying the unique expertise and facilities available at and around Harwell Oxford as a learning resource for the rest of the UK, Europe and the world. This project will be delivered by Abingdon and Witney College.
• Oxford Science Transit Scheme £40m (£35m Local Growth Fund) - support to expand the integrated public transport system along the Knowledge Spine, delivering major enhancements to the A40 strategic route between Oxford, Northern Gateway and Witney and connecting centres of innovation and economic growth with Oxfordshire’s universities. This project will be delivered by Oxfordshire County Council.

Growth Deal 2

The Local Growth Fund was then expanded in January 2015, with an extra £9.9m of the Government’s LGF. The additional projects secured by OxLEP include:

• Northern Gateway £452.5m (£5.9m LGF) - a package to improve transport in North Oxford and enable the Northern Gateway development which will provide business and research space and new homes.
• Oxpens £150m (£3.5m Local Growth Fund) – transport and site improvements to support the Oxpens development, which will provide much needed office and research space and new homes in the heart of Oxford. This project will be delivered by Oxford City Council.
• Activate Care Suite £0.6m (£0.4m Local Growth Fund) – establishing the Activate Care Suite to improve adult social care and health. This project will be delivered by Activate Learning.

Growth Deal 3

OxLEP was awarded £24.16 million of Local Growth Fund 3 (LGF3) funding – this on top of the £174 million of City Deal and LGF funding already secured for Oxfordshire.

The new investment enables us to support multiple projects to benefit local people and businesses.

Our key focus will be on developing skills to meet the needs of local employers, building on Oxfordshire’s strengths in research and development, and opening up new commercial development opportunities.

The OxLEP LGF3 programme was submitted to government in July 2016. The submission built on our previously successful City Deal and LGF1 and 2 bids. The Oxfordshire programme was ambitious and asked for c£382m which would lever in c£1.4bn additional investment – of which, over £1bn would be private sector investment aligned to growth.

This investment would deliver and/or enable:

• Over 35,000 houses through developing the infrastructure required to unlock development
• Build on previous City Deal and LGF investment to create the transport infrastructure necessary for a 21st century knowledge rich, job creating economy
• Create c40,000-plus jobs
• c750 new apprenticeship starts and improved qualifications
• 250,000sqm of employment supporting developments

Head to the 'Resources' section to download: 'OxLEP Oxfordshire Local Growth Fund 2016 – Snapshot'.