Budget 2012: City Deal ‘about backing winners’

GREATER Manchester's £1.2bn 'City Deal' with the government, giving it the ability to control its own destiny on skills, inward investment and economic growth is testament to its status as the leading region outside London.

It shows too, that despite the much-publicised spat between ministers and the civic leadership in Manchester over the severe spending cuts last year, no lasting damage was done, with pragmatism replacing politics.

Martin Portnoy, tax partner at E&Y, added: "“The City Deal status is clearl... You can carry on reading TheBusinessDesk.com for free, but you have reached the maximum number of pages an unregistered user can view. To register for an account, click here or login below...