It was never very likely that the Government’s Regional Growth Fund would be able to do very much more than offer limited, but nevertheless welcome, financial assistance for industry at a broad strategic level.

Bids from across the country for a share of the pot stood at £2.78 billion, with requests totalling £459 million from the West Midlands alone.

Since the total aid available for the whole country stood at £300 million, most organisations requesting a share of the RGF were bound to be disappointed.

Labour got its attack in before the latest RGF allocations were announced, condemning the whole process as a disaster and demanding that an additional £200 million be made available.

Such posturing can only come from an opposition party, and in this case a party on whose watch Britain’ descended into mind-boggling debt.

It is highly unlikely, if Ed Milliband were Prime Minister, that the RGF would be significantly larger, such is the parlous state of the country’s finances.

Birmingham and the West Midlands will have to be thankful for small mercies, and hope that the RGF money handed to the region can be galvanised to reduce high unemployment and boost consumer spending.

Several of the schemes benefitting from the RGF have been at the top of a wish list of projects drawn up by council and business leaders for a long time.

These include Birmingham Airport’s runway extension, allowing non-stop flights to take place to China, India and the west coast of America, and a research and development centre for Jaguar Land Rover.