James Naish, MP for Rushcliffe, has welcomed the announcement of a significant £2 billion funding package aimed at transforming transport infrastructure across the East Midlands. This funding forms part of the biggest ever investment in buses, trams and local train infrastructure in eight city regions across the UK and more than doubles the local investment figures for 2024/25.
The East Midlands’ £2 billion funding will primarily focus on transport links between Nottingham and Derby to improve connectivity between several growth areas including the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station which is part of the East Midlands Freeport and the Infinity Park Investment Zone site in Derby. This area is known as the Trent Arc which is a centrepiece project for the region.
James Naish MP welcomed the announcement which he said “puts Rushcliffe right at the heart of the mayor’s vision and future spending plans for the East Midlands.”
He said: “Today’s announcement shows how central Rushcliffe is to the growth of our region. This money will fund road, rail and bus improvements between Nottingham and Derby, including connections to and from Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station site where we know there is huge potential for clean energy, AI and advanced manufacturing investment. We now have the resources to deliver real, tangible change locally.”
In a speech in Greater Manchester on Wednesday morning, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is expected to say that “a Britain that is better off cannot rely on a handful of places forging ahead of the rest of the country,” adding that the “result of such thinking has been growth created in too few places, felt by too few people and wide gaps between regions, and between our cities and towns.”
The £15.6 billion funding represents a more than double real-terms increase in capital spending on local transport in city regions by 2029/30 compared with 2024/25, and will empower local leaders to invest in transport projects that will make a difference to their local area. The announcement comes ahead of next week’s Spending Review and the government’s industrial strategy which will be published later this month.
Mayor Claire Ward emphasised the importance of the region taking control of its development priorities. She said: “This is the largest transport investment our region has seen in a generation.
“As Mayor of the East Midlands, one of my most important responsibilities is to ensure that Government sees this region through the eyes of those who live, work and travel here, and to make sure we are treated as a national priority. Today’s announcement is the clearest sign yet that this approach is working.”
“This is the moment we begin to put right decades of underinvestment. From everyday frustrations to major barriers to growth, poor transport has held our region back for too long.”
James Naish, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the East Midlands, said that the region has experienced successive generations of underinvestment, and welcomed the Chancellor’s expected confirmation on Wednesday that there will be “a step change in how government approaches and evaluates the case for investing in our regions to make sure that this government gives every region a fair hearing when it comes to investments.”
James Naish said: “We have been massively underfunded and underinvested in as a region, as the data consistently shows. It is really important that we take the new mayor’s powers to access greater funding from Westminster, and bring it to the region so we can promote local priorities. Our approach as a group of local MPs working together with the mayor has seen the East Midlands receive a significant boost today which I wholeheartedly welcome.”
Notes: for more information about the “Trent Arc” which has the potential for 30,000 new homes, more than 40,000 full-time jobs, a £2.4bn boost to the regional economy and 2.7 million square feet of commercial space, please see: https://www.eastmidlands-cca.gov.uk/trent-arc/
