The Midlands Engine

Summary

In February 2015, the then Prime Minister David Cameron and the then Chancellor George Osborne launched 15 year economic plan to “make the Midlands the Engine for Growth in the UK.”

A prospectus published in December 2015 agreed on an economic plan based around five themes:

• Promotion of the region to encourage domestic and foreign investment.
• Creation of a long term transport investment strategy through the Midlands Connect Partnership.
• Collaboration between businesses and universities to drive business innovation and improve business productivity and competitiveness.
• Creation of a single, region-wide “fund of funds” to provide financial support to SMEs in the region.
• Collaboration between the employer base and skills providers to ensure skills provision is tailored to employer demand.

In April 2016, the BIS Select Committee launched an inquiry into the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine; this was rolled into the BEIS Select Committee’s inquiry on industrial strategy, which is ongoing.