Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency, has axed 122 projects following a government review of its spending plans.

The agency said this week it had reviewed 906 projects after the government asked it in May to update its Corporate Plan to reflect the worsening economic climate. It has said that 600 projects that were already legally committed will go ahead, as will a further 184 projects that were in the pipeline. The rest, however, have fallen victim to the recession.

Government funding to the agency has been cut by £48m and it has also suffered a £20m loss in estimated land and property receipts because of the fall in land values. The agency has, however, confirmed that £1.1bn would still available for the 784 projects that have survived the cull.

‘Undoubtedly the review had been challenging for us in terms of making choices and communicating difficult messages to partners,’ said Mick Laverty, chief executive at Advantage West Midlands. ‘The projects affected were still in the approval process. In terms of our day-to-day activity, it is business as usual.’

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