Growth report aims for billions boost to region

Mayor Claire Ward said they wanted to make the most of current and future investment

Attracting new investment can lead to better opportunities, health and housing for tens of thousands of people, a new report has said.

East Midlands mayor Claire Ward commissioned a group of experts to produce a study of how to boost both the economy and community of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

The Inclusive Growth Commission (IGC) report said fairer funding from central government, along with private investment, could unlock a £200bn boost, raise wages for low-paid workers, expand affordable housing and save up to £10bn a year in sickness costs.

Ward said the document was a framework of how best to invest money to make sure all parts of the region benefited in the long term.

Stronger networks

At the heart of the report is an "opportunity escalator", a toolkit designed to help spread jobs and prosperity as widely as possible.

This looks at providing building blocks for workers and students, like transport, homes and healthy neighbourhoods.

It then seeks to match up skills with better paying jobs by linking authorities, educational centres and employers.

The report said targeted investment could boost the economy by £200bn within 10 years, and supporting the 18 most promising new industrial sites could help 30,000 low-paid workers earn about £6,700 more each year.

Additionally, it estimates helping people build stronger networks and connections could add £1.4bn in extra income for the poorest households by 2035.

Andy Haldane said the ambition was to end a cycle of underinvestment in the region

The document recommends focusing efforts on five different areas within the two counties, each with its own strengths and characteristics.

• The "Trent Arc" comprising the cities of Nottingham and Derby, the "major engines of growth in the East Midlands" .

• Mansfield and Ashfield and the surrounds, or the "Heartlands" attractive to "a range of manufacturing and distribution industries".

• "Canal towns", the area around Chesterfield, "notable for being outward facing toward Sheffield".

• "Clean Energy Supercluster", comprising Worksop, Retford and Newark and three former coal-fired power stations, where there's a focus on future energy production.

• "Peaks and Dales", dominated by the visitor and rural economy.

Ward said: "This year-long piece of work is about understanding the region and all it has to offer.

"But also recognising the barriers we have and giving us a framework we can work through as we start to put the investment in place."

Chairman of the IGC, Andy Haldane, said: "The ambition was to end a cycle of underinvestment in the East Midlands and redesign growth from the ground up.

"By developing an ambitious new engine for growth, the Opportunity Escalator, and through the commission's recommendations, we're equipping not just the region, but the whole country with a blueprint for people-centred inclusive growth."