Productivity and Economic Growth: East Midlands

Amanda Hack Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank my hon. Friend and neighbour the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing this incredibly important debate.

My colleagues will all agree that the east midlands is a region with so much to offer. We have two local mayoral authorities, which are fantastic for their areas, but we do not have one for Leicestershire. We do not have the strategic single voice or the powers that devolution brings. The only way to ensure that our constituents thrive in the long term is to ensure that the east midlands thrives together.

Historically, the region had some formal structures such as the regional development agency and regional assemblies. Those have long gone, but we need to consider where we go from here to get a single organisation that focuses on growth for the east midlands. Today we have a much more fragmented approach, and I cannot help worrying that that is a barrier to long-term productivity and growth.

My North West Leicestershire constituency alone employs 20,000 people in the logistics sector, partly because we have the second-largest freight airport in the UK: East Midlands airport, which operates like a 24/7 logistics hub. I am proud to say that exports through the airport, predominantly in sectors such as advanced manufacturing and aerospace, are nearly double the UK airport average.

Alongside that hub, we have the only inland freeport, with a freeport site across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The plan for freeports was to have high-quality advanced manufacturing, which is key to building new jobs in the growth sectors identified in the industrial strategy, aligning with the demand for export growth. However, what has been proposed for the Leicestershire site has created considerable concern for my community. To maximise growth and opportunity, we have to take our communities with us.

One of the barriers to growth in the east midlands, as has been mentioned, is transport. Spending per head is 54% of the UK average. What does that mean for my constituency? It means that our bus provision is unreliable, and we do not have passenger rail anywhere. In January, I led a debate on the Ivanhoe line, a disused passenger rail line that is completely intact from Burton to Coalville, and would connect two of the largest towns in the country to the rail network of Coalville and Castle Gresley on the edge of Swadlincote. Just imagine what that could do.

It feels as though North West Leicestershire, in the centre of the east midlands, is sitting on a bundle of incredible possibility. My constituency is the heart of the national forest, which is today celebrating the planting of its 10-millionth tree. This year also marks the 30th year of the National Forest Company, which has been working with North West Leicestershire district council to transform the industrial landscape for nature, people and enterprise.

North West Leicestershire and the east midlands are not short of ambition or opportunity. We would greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with the Minister to ensure that the east midlands is talked about not simply as a place for opportunity, but as a powerhouse for growth.

--- Later in debate ---

[Steve Darling]

Sadly, the investment that I had hoped to see in my hospital in Torbay has been kicked into the long grass. We still have hundreds of sewage leaks across the hospital, 85% of which is not fit for purpose. However, let me go back to discussing the east midlands, which is what we are really here to do.

As I was saying, SMEs will be challenged the most. I implore the Minister to consider that, as the Employment Rights Act is rolled out. Even HR reps acknowledge that this is important. Introducing it at the same time as the national insurance hike has resulted, effectively, in a double hit to the economy.

[Amanda Hack]

One of the things that is problematic about the hon. Gentleman’s line of questioning is that one in 10 people in Leicestershire are on an NHS waiting list. In order to increase economic productivity, we need to make sure that people of working age are well enough to work. Does he agree that investment in health is also key to economic productivity?

[Steve Darling]

Yes. Let me reflect on the three areas that we need to be driving in particular. The first is our green energy approach, which the Government have made significant steps on. I am disappointed that the previous Government had a policy that did not prioritise the new schemes. A number of zombie schemes were sticking in the system. We need only look at the shock to our economy.