Manchester's regeneration has been given a multi-million pound boost alongside the creation of a new ministerial group to support city leaders in bidding for further projects, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said.

Ms Blears announced that English Partnerships have earmarked around £10m to accelerate the delivery of Sportcity, the largest concentration on sporting venues in Europe. The money will be used for site preparation, in order to unlock the huge potential for leisure, commercial and sporting activity to create new jobs.

The development of Sportcity is expected to create 1,600 new jobs and will be a key part of East Manchester’s wider regeneration drive. The Government is extending the New East Manchester Urban Regeneration Company to 2014, who will invite proposals for the new Sportcity site, and spearhead a series of local regeneration projects, creating a total of 4,000 jobs.

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Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, said: "This £10m boost for Sportcity will unlock huge sporting potential in East Manchester and attract visitors from across the UK, and beyond. It’s another piece of the jigsaw in Manchester’s regeneration success story, and can help to create new jobs.

"The new ministerial group will also ensure that success continues well into the future by giving the Government’s support to city leaders as they drive forward new jobs, more skills and better transport for our communities."

Both the Government and Manchester City Council have made huge strides in regeneration of the city since 1997:

• In the 4 years after hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2002, the city attracted around £2 billion of private sector investment that created 45,000 jobs.
• Transport links have also seen considerable improvement. £27m was spent modernising Manchester Piccadilly station, with a further £60m invested by NetworkRail between 2003-05 and recently approvals have been given for four new schemes totalling over £301m, including extending the Manchester Metrolink system to Oldham, Rochdale and Chorlton.
• Manchester has benefited from significant public sector relocations including the Training and Development Agency, the Standards Board for England, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the BBC location in Salford.

(JM)