Delighted East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward believes Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for the Government to announce and confirm a ‘£160m’ Investment Zone scheme for the region will help ‘turbo-charge’ the area’s economy.
The East Midlands Combined County Authority recently predicted at its inaugural Investment Committee meeting, at Chesterfield Town Hall, that EMCCA would receive confirmation by the end of October and that it will hopefully receive ‘£160m’ of Government funding for the proposed East Midlands Investment Zone.
EMCCA now hopes the funding will soon be made available to spread over ten years at three sites – the Hartington-Staveley site, in Chesterfield borough, Infinity Park, at Derby, and The Explore Park, at Worksop – to support growth in green industries and advanced manufacturing.
And Sir Keir Starmer revealed on Friday, October 25 his commitment to the project and he said Chancellor Rachel Reeves will include details in the Labour Government’s Autumn Budget announcement on Wednesday, October 30.
Labour’s East Midlands Mayor, Ms Ward, said: “This is great news and I’m delighted the Government has recognised the potential for our region to lead the country in green industry growth.
“The East Midlands Investment Zone will help us turbo-charge our economy, attracting major investment and creating opportunities for businesses and residents and thousands of high- quality new jobs and apprenticeships for local people.”
The three EMIZ designated sites provide a series of tax benefits to companies newly occupying them, and Hartington-Staveley and Infinity Park will also benefit from Business Rate Retention mechanisms.
These EMIZ sites are hopefully now set to benefit from up to £160m of a Government funding settlement to be spread over ten years with a percentage to be used to service the tax benefits for the three sites, according to EMCCA.
Funding is also expected to support a ‘Sprint initiative’ establishing a platform for concerned organisations, an allocation of the first year’s funds to unlock investment and to support strategic planning, a pipeline of investment projects, and to help with strategy development and capacity building.
There will also be funding and grants for investment proposals and business cases, for developing new technologies, skills and training, and for research, innovation roadmaps and pilot projects.
Chesterfield Borough Council previously stated that being part of EMIZ is expected to bring tax incentives including possible Stamp Duty Land Tax Relief on commercial land and buildings, as well as possible Business Rate Relief on newly occupied business premises and for other certain existing businesses on EMIZ tax sites.
It added that it also expects there to be a first year Enhanced Capital Allowance for companies with expenditure on plant and machinery assets in the tax sites while other benefits could include an Enhanced Structures and Building Allowance and Employer or National Insurance Contributions Relief.
The borough council also anticipates opportunities for interested parties to bid for funding which may be available for research, innovation, skills, infrastructure, land enterprise and business support, planning and developments as part of any future reinvestment strategy for the EMIZ.
East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward told the recent EMCCA meeting the authority will see where the proceeds created by the EMIZ can be reinvested and the three sites will need skills and a supply chain so the authority will be looking across the region and at connectivity which will also drive transport links.
Ms Ward added: “I just want to emphasise that this is the fundamentally important thing about having a regional strategy and the Mayor which is that we take decisions on a regional basis to ensure that the whole of the region is lifted.”
She also said that a benefit of having regional development and devolution is the connectivity and creation of opportunities.
The EMIZ process and any confirmation has been delayed by the General Election, according to EMCCA.
Sir Keir Starmer announced confirmation of Investment Zones for the UK alongside plans for five new ‘low-tax’ Freeports which are areas near shipping ports where imported goods are free from taxes.
The East Midlands boasts a Freeport near East Midlands Airport which supports parts of Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.
Both the Freeports and the Investment Zones are expected to be outlined in detail as part of the Autumn Budget to help create thousands of jobs, more trade and to boost economic growth.
Sir Keir Starmer has said he hopes Freeports will do better with improvements with local authority involvement and more involvement from businesses and local politicians.
The Prime Minister also described the new East Midlands Investment Zone, which is designed specifically to boost high-tech green industry, as ‘really important’.
Ms Ward added: “As a combined authority we can work at a regional level to deliver opportunities like this across the East Midlands and make this the best region in the country to live, work and learn.”
EMCCA includes representatives from Derbyshire County and Derby City councils, and Nottinghamshire County and Nottingham City councils, and was launched this year under a devolution deal with a guaranteed funding stream of £1.14bn for 30-years, and with devolved powers around transport, housing, skills and adult education, economic development and net zero targets.
