Brighton & Hove has the “Key"

Brighton & Hove is part of a group of Key cities intent on working together to share good practice and represent their distinctive interests to Central Government in order to influence policy. The groups manifesto launch is on Wednesday 22nd January 2014 in Westminster.

Key Cities includes local authorities and cities that are significant to the wider area in their local economy and the United Kingdom as a whole and the diverse nature of the individual cities heritage and assets offers a significant presence which will help shape future economic growth locally and nationally.

The Key cities group represents all political parties and have a GVA of £124 billion and a combined population of 6.8m.

There are four key policy areas in the manifesto; The Future of city centres, The Devolution Agenda, Skills and Employment and Innovative Finance.

Brighton & Hove City Centre leader Jason Kitcat said;” Being part of Key Cities” is a great step for Brighton & Hove. We have the opportunity to shape future policy which will be key to boosting the local economy and championing local regeneration schemes.”

Background

In June 2013 the councils of Coventry, Derby, Preston, Sunderland and Wakefield, founded the Key Cities group.

By December 2013, the group had an additional 17 members: Bath and North East Somerset, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove, Doncaster, Hull, Kirklees, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stoke on Trent, Wolverhampton and York. The group now meets on a regular basis.

It has a nine member leading group of: Derby, Bournemouth, Wakefield, Peterborough, Bath & NE Somerset, Brighton & Hove, Coventry, Preston, and Sunderland.