Executive Summary
The West Midlands is changing. The cranes scattered across the horizon in Birmingham city centre paints a picture of investment and innovation anchored around the arrival of HS2, one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Europe, and our unrivalled connectivity to the rest of the country. Our schools, colleges and universities are evolving to ensure our people—and the next generation of one of the UK’s youngest, fastest growing city regions—have the skills they need for jobs in a green and digital economy. Our high streets, town centres and transport hubs are becoming places where we live and play, not just places where we shop or work. And since the pandemic, we have realised the importance of protecting and enhancing our parks, waterways, heritage and countryside. All are the ingredients of our £77 billion economy—almost twice the size of Oxford and Cambridge combined—our scale and growth potential setting us apart from the rest.
Our structures and strategies are changing too. A new national government and a new mayor are exercising their mandates for change through new legislation, new policies and programmes, many of which are designed to stimulate growth, not least here in the West Midlands. Within the region, the leaders of our constituent local authorities have initiated a West Midlands Partnership Plan, the goals of which—to clarify our shared strategic priorities and strengthen ways of working—are taken forward through this Green Paper. The English Devolution White Paper sets out a new framework for devolution in England, with the West Midlands leading the way, and a statutory duty to produce a Local Growth Plan. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes that every region develops a spatial development strategy to shape and direct regional investment in housing and commercial development. And the government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets a clear direction for the future of the energy system with regions powering the future.
These changes are important because they are opportunities to advance the region from where it stands today towards a more prosperous future. As we outline below - and in the West Midlands Theory of Growth that accompanies this Green Paper- the region's economy is not at its full potential. But by harnessing our distinctive strengths, building on our strong foundations and prioritising our collective efforts as a region on what needs to change, the 'prize' is clear: higher living standards for our residents and a stronger regional—and national—economy.
West Midlands Futures was started over a year ago to help us navigate this change over the coming decade. It began with a series of over 70 interviews with key stakeholders from around the region and nationally to clarify how we see the big challenges facing the region. Since then, we have been building an evidence base to better understand those challenges and what can be done to make sure change benefits everyoneiv. And now—as changes to the policy context become clearer—we want to know what our people and businesses think about change. It is essential that as our future plans are developed, they are informed by the experiences of the individuals, businesses and local communities they are being designed to support.
This Green Paper sets out four big areas of change on the horizon and how regional stakeholders—led by the West Midlands Combined Authority—are beginning to respond to them. The golden thread that runs right through it is growth. In each area, we are asking a handful of questions. We want to know your opinions about the direction of travel and how we seize the many opportunities we have before us.