In May 2024, Claire Ward was elected as the first Mayor of the East Midlands. She represents over 2.2m people across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Nottinghamshire.
Building on the work of the Inclusive Growth Commission, we’re setting out a long-term vision to drive sustainable and inclusive growth across our region.
Our core mission is that by 2040…
By working with our partners, including the UK Government, businesses, and local communities, we’re creating opportunities, supporting jobs, and making life better for people across the region.
Our roadmap for the future is built around six targeted ambitions.
By 2040, the East Midlands will be one of the fastest growing regional economies in the UK. People across the region will be in good, secure and rewarding work, enabled by innovation rooted in our strengths in making, producing and movement, establishing the East Midlands as a leading destination for business investment.
By 2040, the East Midlands will be a UK leader in maximising jobs and opportunities from clean energy and green technologies. Improving everyone’s environment will mean creating cleaner, greener communities, with warmer homes, better public transport, greater access to nature, and improved protection from flooding and the environmental impacts
of climate change.
By 2040, the East Midlands will be a place where people can gain the skills they need for the jobs they want, with
high-quality local training, better pay, and clear routes to progress. From first steps into work to careers at the
forefront of industry, everyone will have the chance to realise their potential and more jobs will offer security, purpose and pride.
By 2040, communities in the East Midlands will benefit from reliable, inclusive and sustainable connectivity, through integrated transport and high-quality digital infrastructure, broadening access to opportunity and reducing reliance on private cars, while driving investment across the region.
By 2040, the housing affordability gap in the East Midlands will be closing, with rents and house prices better aligned to local incomes. Communities will have access to safe and warm housing, suitable to their needs, enabling people to live healthy lives in connected communities.
By 2040, we will significantly reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy between our most and least advantaged communities and improve health and wellbeing for all residents by focusing on prevention, treatment and support, enabling people to participate fully in their communities and benefit from opportunities around them.
Our inclusive vision for the East Midlands is backed up by specialist plans that set out where we will invest, how we will work with partners, and the steps needed to build thriving communities.
Our East Midlands Growth Plan is a 10-year strategy that will bring our ambitions for the region to life. It sets out actions and major investment into the region over the next decade to:
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Strong transport and digital connectivity are the backbone of a thriving economy, linking communities, businesses and services while opening doors to jobs, education and innovation. As the region’s Transport Authority, we are empowered to lead the transformation of our transport systems and influence government investment decisions.
We are working to deliver the homes our region needs by collaborating with local developers and housing providers to create well-designed, energy-efficient and affordable homes that support thriving communities, and meet the needs of residents now and in the future. By making the best use of our region’s assets, including regenerating redundant land and buildings, we will help unlock new opportunities for growth while preserving the character of our towns and cities.
Our region is one of huge talent and creativity, but it also faces significant challenges around skills development and economic inactivity. We are committed to addressing these challenges by investing in education, training, and employment initiatives that will enable our residents to secure and progress in the jobs of today and tomorrow.
The East Midlands, once the heart of the Industrial Revolution, is now leading a new, cleaner era. While past economic progress has caused environmental harm, we now have the chance to reverse this and build resilience to climate change. By putting the clean energy revolution at the heart of our inclusive growth agenda, we can create a sustainable economy that works with nature, helping both people and the environment thrive.
We are working closely with businesses, universities, investors and communities to grow our economy, create jobs and bring in new investment to the region. By investing in our people, places and businesses, we aim to ensure we can provide the best opportunities for the region to grow economically, inclusively and sustainably.
We are bringing together the region’s key growth and regeneration projects under a single, ambitious strategy to drive economic development and create thriving places.
We cannot deliver this work alone. We need to work with partners across to make our vision of a fairer, greener, and stronger East Midlands a reality. All of our plans are a call to action for local, regional, and national partners to work together to drive inclusive growth.
