East Midlands: Local Authorities and Economic Growth

Debate between Adam Thompson and Michael Payne

Monday 7th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Payne]

The hon. Gentleman is right to pay testament to the Chancellor and the Labour Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, for unlocking nearly £1 billion in growth and investment from the freeport at East Midlands airport. He knows Northern Ireland politics far better than I do, but I think my hon. Friend on the Treasury Bench will have been listening closely to his powerful argument on behalf of his constituents. I wish him well with his campaign.

Under the previous Conservative Government, we heard a lot of talk about levelling up, but certain local areas were favoured over others, while the rest of us wondered when it would be our turn at the table. I welcome this Labour Government’s change to that approach: less selective, no longer pitting area against area, and with a genuine desire to grow every part of the United Kingdom. Our Labour mayor, Claire Ward, has started working with the Government to find areas to grow the local economy. In the past year, she secured £200 million of transport investment that will grow our economy by allowing people to get about our region more easily; she secured £160 million for the east midlands investment zone, to attract new investment and create jobs; and she secured the brownfield housing fund, which will build 1,400 new homes. However, she is held back by the previous Government’s piecemeal approach to devolution.

[Adam Thompson (Erewash) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I was recently in discussion with the managing director of a local small and medium-sized enterprise based on Merlin Way in Ilkeston in my constituency. He expressed great frustration at the barriers to growth that his firm experiences with planning, high building costs and uncertainty. Does my hon. Friend agree that devolution via empowered regional mayors represents the solution to those problems and a route to prosperity through growth?

[Michael Payne]

My hon. Friend is a good friend and a powerful advocate for his constituents. He is right that devolution in the east midlands needs to go further and faster, because areas such as Greater Manchester and the west midlands are much further ahead on their journey. Giving the East Midlands mayoral authority trailblazer status would see a turbocharged approach to skills, investment and growth in our area. Giving Mayor Claire Ward an integrated funding settlement across local growth, place, transport, skills, housing and more to work with local authorities such as mine in Gedling would really get our economy moving. That approach has been proven elsewhere.

We should not need to wait any longer in the east midlands for power over our own future, but mayors and combined authorities are only one part of local government across the east midlands. Borough, county and unitary councils often do the overlooked, often-ignored hard yards that provide growth in our communities. The Government recognise that to grow the economy, they must work hand in hand with business, but they also have to work hand in hand with local government. Public services are essential for social and economic security. Vital services such as education, housing, healthcare and transport contribute to the economic productivity of the region, and local authorities provide the best investment in local areas.

The Local Government Association found that councils in the east midlands contribute directly to 20% of local GDP through projects that promote business growth, job creation and regional investment. Local authorities are key enablers for the Government’s promises around transport, housing, skills and growth. The Government are rightly reforming the planning system to allow council planners to do their job, but every single one of the 1.5 million houses built under this Government will have been approved by a council planner. Local authority workers will be instrumental in the roll-out of free breakfast clubs across schools. We have seen the impact on growth and economic confidence if simple things such as our bin collections go wrong.

Our local government workers keep our communities and this country ticking. They are all heroes. My plea to the Government is simple: do not ignore local government, local government finances or local government staff, and continue to invest in those areas.