The SCR Chambers: East Midlands
of HS2’s Eastern Leg from Birmingham to Leeds, via the East Midlands. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the cross-
party group cites a new report that demonstrates stark social and economic inequalities between the eastern and western regions of the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine. Mind the gap: The role of
Helping get the region on track A
group of MPs, civic and business leaders from across the Midlands has written to Boris Johnson calling for the full delivery
In the letter, the group says: “After decades of
‘In desperate need of the
HS2’s Eastern Leg in bridging England’s east-west divide, authored by campaign group HS2 East, highlights that communities surrounding the Eastern Leg of HS2 Phase 2b suffer from lower productivity, poorer social mobility and receive lower levels of transport investment than communities surrounding its Western Leg, set to run from Birmingham to Manchester. Signatories, which include East Midlands Chamber Chief Executive Scott Knowles and President Dawn Edwards, cite HS2’s Eastern Leg as an essential investment to address these inequalities, highlighting the huge regeneration schemes it is set to catalyse across the East Midlands, Yorkshire and North East – creating more than 150,000 highly-skilled jobs.
growth HS2 will bring’
regeneration, job creation and economic
chronic underinvestment in transport, these regions are in desperate need of the regeneration, job creation and economic growth HS2 will bring. In accordance with your ‘levelling up’ agenda, we urge you to tackle these issues by taking action now.” Productivity along the Eastern Leg of HS2 Phase 2b was found to be 10% lower than along its Western Leg, while the three Eastern Leg regions – Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and North East – have the three lowest productivity rates in England, falling 35%, 33%, and 32% respectively below that of London. These Eastern Leg
regions were also home to twice as many “social mobility coldspots” than the Western Leg regions – areas
where local authorities were within the worst
20% UK-wide for a range of criteria, including the education provided to deprived children, grades they receive and jobs they secure. This was particularly pronounced in the East Midlands, which accounted for 26% of England’s social deprivation coldspots. The Government is expected to soon publish
its Integrated Rail Plan, which will examine how best to integrate Phase 2b of HS2 with Midlands Engine Rail and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Chamber kickstarts careers
East Midlands Chamber is teaming up with local authorities and other organisations across the region to get young people into work via the Kickstart scheme – already facilitating 1,000 work placements. The Chamber has signed up more than 320 businesses that want to take advantage of the
Government programme, which will cover the cost of a six-month placement for 16 to 24-year- olds who are on Universal Credit or at risk of long-term unemployment. Employers that want to create at least 30 placements can apply directly to the Department for
Work and Pensions (DWP) for a grant to cover the costs, but companies with fewer than 30 roles must apply via recognised gateway organisations, such as the Chamber. To engage more businesses to create job opportunities for young people in their communities,
and benefit from the additional resources offered by work placement students, the Chamber has collaborated with local authorities such as Chesterfield Borough Council to hold online information sessions.
...and that includes electrifying the entire Midland Main Line
The time has come for the Government to finally deliver on electrifying the entire Midland Main Line after a Network Rail report featured the scheme in a wider clean transport vision, says East Midlands Chamber. The UK’s railway operator has set out
plans to electrify 4,800 miles of railway lines – including tracks in the Midlands stretching hundreds of miles – by 2050. Its Traction Decarbonisation Network
Strategy involves a combination of high- speed electric, hydrogen and battery- powered passenger and freight trains. In 2017, the Department for Transport
scrapped £1.1bn plans to electrify the whole of the line from London St Pancras to Sheffield. This has since been replaced with an electrification programme that only goes as far north as Market Harborough, with “bi- mode” trains running on electricity for part of the route before switching to diesel. But the Chamber has joined calls from
other bodies, including Midlands Connect, to reinstate the original scheme immediately and get on with work that is ready to go. Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, said: “Previous assessments have shown how improvements to the Midland Main Line deliver a fantastic benefit-cost ratio and would have a greater return on investment than similar schemes anywhere else in the country. However, promises to electrify the entire line have not been met and the region has missed out on the economic prosperity this could bring. “Infrastructure investment is now at the
heart of the Government’s economic recovery strategy so we’d hope that this report will pave the way for the scheme to finally be delivered in full.”
Autumn 2020 CHAMBERconnect 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
