ESRB contributes to Smith Institute Report

On Tuesday the 11th of September, a new report on housing and regeneration funding in the East Midlands was launched by the Smith Institute at a Parliamentary event.  The ESRB contributed to this report by providing a detailed overview of the East Midlands economy, labour market and demographic trends, highlighting the impact of the recession and distinct regional sectoral strengths, such as the fact that the East Midlands has a higher proportion of employment and output attributed to manufacturing than any of the nine English regions and also has a strong productivity advantage in this sector.  These observations were linked to the Government’s objective around ‘rebalancing’ the economy, and informed recommendations made by the authors on how opportunities within the East Midlands can be better realised.  The ESRB research also demonstrated to policy makers the importance of commuting flows and transport links, the economic linkages between urban and rural areas, and recent research evidence on the key role of high growth firms in private sector job generation.  In addition to this analysis, the ESRB provided critical input to  the authors’ recommendations, drawing from their experience in project and programme evaluation and regional policy development.  This material was presented to a round-table of stakeholders by ESRB staff at two events, one hosted at NTU’s Nottingham Conference Centre and the other hosted by East Midlands Councils in Melton Mowbray.