How will South Yorkshire cope with the Spending Review?

South Yorkshire's Spending Review
James Vincent
Political Reporter, BBC Sheffield

Rotherham and Barnsley have been rated among the least prepared places in the country for October's Spending Review by the government.

Research for the BBC, by Experian, showed that South Yorkshire could struggle with government cuts, perhaps much more than other parts of the country.

The study looked at businesses in each council area, and took into account data including insolvencies and how many people were unemployed.

Orgreave during the miners strike. It's now the Advanced Manufacturing Park and may be South Yorkshire's future

Much of the research hangs on how our economy is doing in South Yorkshire and it does not read well for Rotherham and Barnsley.

A reliance on what the report terms 'vulnerable sectors' is to blame and although the career choice here is no longer as simple as coal or steel, it suggests there is more to be done to make our economy more adaptable.

Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster all rank low for business and Sheffield is earmarked as vulnerable to long term unemployment.

So what is the way out? One of the answers, according to the Leader of Sheffield City Council, Cllr Paul Scriven, is the new Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

LEPs are the idea of the coalition government and are being set up to replace development agencies like Yorkshire Forward.

South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire will all join the Sheffield City Region, with private business the driving force. Paul Scriven said the private and public sectors need to work together:

"We need to now speak to government to ensure the money and the power we need comes to our Local Enterprise Partnership, so business, universities and councils can invest so we can grow and this region is seen as the powerhouse for advanced manufacturing."

Orgreave today, potentially one of South Yorkshire's biggest selling points

So it seems having a lot of manufacturing companies in your area makes you 'vulnerable' but reliance on one sector brings knowledge and experience which could now be turned into an advantage when attracting companies to South Yorkshire.

It is David Fletcher's job to sell Sheffield to business and get them to base themselves here. He works for Creative Sheffield:

"Ironically, what at one time was one of our weaknesses because we were totally reliant on that sector is now one of our key selling points because things like the Advanced Manufacturing Park are a flagship for an industry that still has plenty of growth potential."

Just in case you are worried about South Yorkshire making the same mistake twice with an over-reliance on engineering, the Local Enterprise Partnership is keen to point out they want to add creative industries, aviation and low carbon industries to the business mix.

To some extent, it is about relying on what we have got and developing it; making more of the business park at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, the clean carbon plans for the re-opened Hatfield Colliery and what is seen as a developing creative sector.

However, with cuts of up to a third being planned across the public sector, the development of private business will not be the most important thing on the minds of hundreds of council and health workers as we head towards the spending review.