The East Midlands Combined County Authority has announced a long‑term strategy aimed at creating a fairer, more inclusive future for communities across the region. The East Midlands Growth Plan, unveiled by the Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, outlines a decade of investment designed to boost jobs, improve transport, expand quality housing and drive green economic growth.
The plan focuses on tackling inequality and ensuring that every resident, regardless of background or postcode, has access to opportunity.
The Growth Plan is structured around six key ambitions:
- Driving economic growth and opportunity
- Championing green growth
- Equipping residents with skills for good work
- Strengthening connectivity
- Delivering quality homes and places
- Improving health and wellbeing
These goals form the basis of a strategy designed to strengthen the region’s economic foundations while ensuring communities thrive.
A central aim of the plan is to support tens of thousands of people into training and employment. By increasing investment in education, skills programmes and workforce development, EMCCA hopes to improve access to secure, well‑paid jobs in emerging and high‑growth industries.
The authority will work closely with businesses, investors and universities to stimulate inward investment, support innovation and expand local opportunity.
Housing represents a major pillar of the Growth Plan. Thousands of new high‑quality homes are expected to be delivered each year, with a focus on affordability, sustainability, and community‑centred design.
The intention is to create neighbourhoods that meet current and future needs, offering residents healthier, more connected places to live.
More than £2 billion will be invested in transport infrastructure to improve:
- Bus services
- Rail connectivity
- Cycling routes
- Digital and wider infrastructure links
Improved transport is seen as essential to connecting residents with jobs, education and healthcare while boosting competitiveness for local businesses.
Environmental sustainability sits at the heart of the plan. Once synonymous with the Industrial Revolution, the East Midlands now aims to play a leading role in clean energy development.
Plans include generating an additional 1GW of clean energy, supporting public‑sector and community‑led renewable projects, and embedding environmental protections into economic development. The strategy positions the region to contribute to national and global climate goals.
Recognising the importance of wellbeing in regional development, the plan includes measures to reduce health inequalities, strengthen local health and care services, and expand preventive approaches to improve long‑term outcomes.
The aim is to ensure that every community feels supported and included.
By 2035, EMCCA aims to deliver:
- 60,000 more people in work
- 210,000 additional residents with higher‑level skills
- More than 100,000 new homes
- £13 billion added to the regional economy
These outcomes are intended to create lasting prosperity across the East Midlands.
East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward commented:
“This plan is about unlocking growth while tackling inequality, creating better jobs, fairer pay, and new opportunities in every community. By working with business, government, and local partners, we can build a stronger, more inclusive economy that delivers for everyone.
“The East Midlands has the people, the ideas and the determination to drive Britain’s growth. We must now turn our potential into prosperity, creating the right conditions for business to thrive and local people to succeed.”
For residents, the Growth Plan promises improved job prospects, better wages, more sustainable housing, upgraded transport and a greener environment. For businesses, it offers strengthened infrastructure, enhanced access to investment, and a skilled local workforce.
Image credit: iStock
