Embracing a devolution deal could hold the key to the region getting the full benefits of the government's 'levelling up' agenda, a minister has said.
Neil O'Brien, from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, made the comments on a trip to Norwich, where he visited an education scheme funded partly by a levelling up initiative.
The much-discussed government policy is often interpreted as a way to address a perceived north-south divide, by helping northern areas with investment and greater attention - leading to fears that Norfolk and Suffolk could miss out.
However, Mr O'Brien insisted that levelling up should not just be seen in terms of north and south, and that the east could expect to benefit as well.
But he stressed that to make the most of it, the region should seek a devolution deal. He said he was disappointed when plans for a devolved government in the east faltered five years ago and that he was hoping a new deal could be salvaged.
He said: "We are giving people the flexible funding they need to pursue whatever their local priorities are. Central government cannot know what is most important to different places and should not try and decide everything itself.
"Potentially, if we were to add to the different funding opportunities, some of the things we might do through devolution, I think that could become really powerful and let us get some of these longstanding bugbears.
"I was really sorry to see the devolution agenda falter here a few years back because I think there is a bit of a sense here of wanting to have your voice become stronger on the national stage. I think having a really strong voice for Norfolk would be good."
But he said a deal would not necessarily depend on having a mayor - one of the sticking points last time - saying this was just "one model that could work".
He added: "I think these things work best where they are aligned with a strong sense of local identity, rather than going with something people don't want to do.
"That's the lesson we should take from what happened before, where Peterborough, Norfolk and Cambridge were all rolled into one. It's not for us to say what the geography should be, that should be up to people locally, but it should be done in a way people can relate to."
The minister's visit was to mark the completion of City College's digi-tech hub, which is the first completed project to be funded partly by the government's Town Deal - which contributed £1.5m towards the facility's £11m cost. And he hailed the facility as "amazing".
He said: "I wish I had been able to go somewhere like this when I was the same age as people studying here.
"I think we've got to try and get lots of good jobs to move here and make sure you have a foot in the door in these future industries, so backing the strengths you've got here through places like the University of the Arts and the digital industry is one of the top centres.
"Where you've got success you have to build on it and you've got to nurture it which is why facilities like this are so important."
He dismissed any suggestion that the region could end up overlooked as the government works to "level up" other parts of the country.
He said: "Whenever we speak to the prime minister about levelling up, which is absolutely his top priority, he always makes it clear that this is not about north-south.
"We've got to back the opportunities of places like Norfolk and Norwich and also tackle the problems that are there and recognise they are there.
"The big investment in Norwich we're making through the Town Deal is an important start, as is the 14 projects we backed through the Community Renewal Fund. You are also seeing investment in new trains here which I think are really good.
"We won't be able to do everything at once, levelling up will not be achieved overnight though and we absolutely recognise places like the east and Norfolk and to be central parts of levelling up and we are keen to build on the things we are doing.
"We always want to do more but we've got to keep going and going.
"There is loads of good potential for transport investments here and dualling the A47 is something Chloe Smith raises with me a lot and I came in that way myself, so I understand the challenges. I think there are loads of things we want to do here."
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