How infrastructure can give the East Midlands the economic boost it needs

With 5 million people and 368,000 businesses, the East Midlands makes an important contribution to the UK’s economy.

It has the potential to grow further and faster and be at the heart of a sustainable energy transformation.

In 2022, the ICE established the East Midlands Infrastructure Partnership (EMIP) to be the ‘voice of infrastructure’ in the region.

Its purpose: engage key stakeholders, inform decision makers and feed into the national debate.

EMIP draws together senior professionals engaged in planning, designing, constructing, maintaining and managing the region’s economic assets (roads, water and electricity supplies, etc.).

The new Build to Grow – An East Midlands Infrastructure Perspective report considers challenges and opportunities ahead of the UK government’s upcoming spending review and 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy.

The report focusses on:

• energy supply
• transport
• water supply and quality
• flood risk management

The context

East Midlands councils’ analysis shows that although GDP has been growing around the UK average for the last 20 years, productivity is below average and declining.

Annual public spending in environmental protection, housing and community is significantly below the national average.

Rebalancing investment to align with population, housing and economic growth is a key strategic objective for the region.

Midlands Engine, a partnership between the east and west, identified exceptional opportunities to create more jobs and drive economic growth across key sectors.

Infrastructure investment and sustainable delivery are key to realising economic, social and environmental benefits.

Energy supply

Coal-fired power stations along the Trent Valley used to generate a quarter of the nation’s power. There are opportunities to redevelop these sites for green energy infrastructure.

The Nuclear Fusion STEP reactor planned at West Burton will create 2,976 jobs during construction and 6,440 more once open, adding circa £489m annually to the economy.

Green hydrogen production is also being planned at the former High Marnham and Ratcliffe power stations.

With government funding and private sector investment, hydrogen production can be linked to major industrial users in the region.

The East Midlands Hydrogen partnership estimates investment in this energy source could remove 1.9m tonnes of CO2 annually and add some £10bn in gross added value.

Transport

Since the region hosts several city centres, large-scale public transport solutions are less practical.

Bus use in Leicester and Nottingham compares well with similar cities. Nottingham has a successful tram network. However, only 17% of Nottingham's population live within a 20-minute walk of a rail station.

As such, the region heavily depends on cars, with up to 80% of journeys to work made by road.

Midland Connect, has developed a transport strategy calling for improvements to east-west rail for Nottingham – Lincoln and Coventry – Leicester – Nottingham. The aim is to improve journey times and deliver £180m in economic benefit.

Recommendations for strategic road network improvements include M1 junctions 24 and 28, and strategic corridors A38, A1, A500 and A46.

Government targets for zero-emission cars and vans, and encouraging developments in electric HGVs, mean that with investment in charging infrastructure can make personal mobility and local freight movements more sustainable.

However, maintaining the local road network remains essential.

Water supply and quality

A predicted shortfall of almost 5bn litres of water per day by 2050 places a focus on water supply, especially as the region is among the driest in the country.

Water companies face a growing gap between water demand and supply due to population increase and climate change.

By 2050, summers in the Midlands will be on average 2.6°C warmer than today, with 16% less rainfall, placing a strain on the water available water.

Severn Trent is investing in new treatment works which use water from the River Trent.

Anglian Water is constructing a network of strategic pipelines and planning a 1,200-acre Lincolnshire Reservoir to store some 55m cubic metres of water.

Flood risk management

The East Midlands has the highest flood risk for properties in the UK.

With low-lying land on the coast and river systems draining through heavily built-up areas, 30% of the region is at risk from flooding.

Rising sea levels and extreme weather could cause the number of properties at risk to increase by a third.

Continued investment in maintaining and improving flood resilience needs to be paired with the drive for green energy and net zero transportation to tackle the root cause of climate change.

The objective is to support existing communities and to enable economic development.

Working with nature

Storm water flooding and the pollution of rivers caused by antiquated sewerage systems also needs addressing.

Investment in nature-based solutions by Severn Trent in Mansfield provides a blueprint for other urban areas.

When complete, the scheme will be able to store over 58m litres of surface water, reducing the flood risk for 90k people and creating 390 jobs.

Recommendations for change

Climate change and sea level rise is a global phenomenon.

In a region that is already prone to flooding, it has demonstrable local consequences.

Reducing harmful emissions from our homes and businesses, modes of transport and energy production brings local benefits.

All infrastructure sectors have a role to play in tackling climate change. EMIP makes four strategic recommendations:

1. Better integration:

Mechanisms are needed to bring sectors together to holistically manage regional infrastructure as a system.

It would allow them to identify potential bottlenecks, reduce harmful emissions, optimise performance and plan for future needs.

2. Regional granularity:

The resources required for delivering the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy and pipeline at a regional level need to be transparent.

This enables demand to be anticipated, supply chains to build capacity, and the higher education and skills sector to plan the courses needed to train young people.

3. A focus on existing assets:

The maintenance of existing assets should have greater priority in infrastructure spending programmes nationally and locally.

4. Improved communication and engagement:

Local communities are concerned about the impacts of nationally significant infrastructure projects.

Better, meaningful communication with the public and local politicians is needed to demonstrate their benefit, and to address local concerns transparently.

Find out more in the Build to Grow report