By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
Local leaders have called for the Government to provide more infrastructure funding for the East Midlands – warning the region is “bottom of the pile”.
It follows Broxtowe Borough Councillors discussing last week the voluntary dissolution of the East Midlands Development Company – known as EM DevCo – as its projects are passed onto the new regional power headed up by Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward (Lab).
Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire County Councils, North West Leicestershire District Council and Rushcliffe and Broxtowe Borough Councils were the five member local councils who set up EM DevCo in 2021.
It looked at regeneration opportunities at Toton and Chetwynd Barracks, Ratcliffe On Soar Power Station and the East Midlands Airport Freeport area, including a previous HS2 station at East Midlands Parkway.
It was set up for an interim three-year period, running until March 2024 to promote the region as a strong investment area.
This was extended to enable discussions with the new regional authority – the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) – set up early this year as part of the creation of the new Mayor of the East Midlands role.
EMCCA now has responsibility for economic development across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire- the East Midlands Freeport area falls under Leicestershire, which is not part of the combined area.
The work of the East Midlands Development Company will be extended to the EMCCA, leaving no need for two sets of similar staff. The company’s board therefore sought to dissolve it due to these circumstantial shifts and the company effectively running its course.
In last week’s meeting, Councillor Greg Marshall (Lab), Deputy Leader of the Council, said the region was “bottom of the pile” in terms of infrastructure spend.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service today (November 11), Councillor Stephen Carr (Ind) agreed with the statement.
He said: “The electrification of our main line- still hasn’t happened.
“That would be an example of what could have been done, compared to the north which have got heaps of investment into the rail.
“We’re still chugging around with old trains on an old fashioned line.”
Cllr Carr hopes for a collaborative effort between local politicians in boosting infrastructure in the region.
He said: “Our MPs should work together with the mayor to secure investment from the government for transport infrastructure in the East Midlands region.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service today, Leader of the Borough Council, Milan Radulovic (Lab), said: “We are bottom of the list all the time because we have a lot of traditional industries.
“We want to see a lot more [from MPs], to call on the government to provide the investment for the people.
“We are all tax payers and yet we get nothing, it’s all being used to subsidise other areas- it should be fair.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We want to spread prosperity across the UK, which is why we recently announced [in the budget] an East Midlands Investment Zone to drive growth in the region.
“This will boost green industries and advanced manufacturing in the East Midlands, and attract much needed private sector investment into the area.”
The EMCCA Investment Zone plans to drive growth in green industries and advanced manufacturing.
The EMCCA will receive the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements – funding from the government – for the first time in 2025 to 2026.
This funding, given to metro mayors, aims at driving the growth, productivity, decarbonisation and levelling up of public transport in England’s largest cities.
As such, new Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward (Lab), who was elected to the role on May 2, is expected to get this funding to spend in the region.
More locally, Newark will receive funding towards hydrogen production projects.
Cllr Carr said: “We keep being promised these things, they never materialise, we’re getting a bit cynical.
“How long is it going to take the mayor and the people around her to sort this out- will it go to the areas it needs to go or the areas that shout the loudest?”
There will be no cost to the taxpayer for the EM DevCo dissolution, with any surpluses proposed to be returned to the local authorities involved.
When EM DevCo’s dissolution was announced, Claire Ward said: “The DevCo has opened a new way of looking at how we deliver development with the infrastructure to match and we want to build on this as we develop our inclusive growth strategy for the East Midlands.”
