SCAPE’s Roundtable: Unlocking potential through devolution and investment

Each conversation has been shaped by our Charter for Change, a comprehensive set of policy recommendations we published in the run up to last year’s election.

For the final stop on our tour, we were on our home turf in the East Midlands. With the region currently leading the pack when it comes to devolution, our conversation looked at what’s needed to ensure a smooth transition that supports national economic growth.

The roundtable, chaired by Caroline Compton-James, Deputy Chief Executive at SCAPE, brought together leaders from East Midlands Combined County Authority, Arc Partnership, Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council, Derby City Council, Derbyshire County Council, Nottingham Trent University, and Invest in Nottingham (part of Marketing Nottingham and Nottinghamshire). Joining us from the construction industry included representatives from Balfour Beatty, Wilmott Dixon, Perfect Circle and Stepnell.

The East Midlands is home to a diverse and dynamic economy, with world-class industries and emerging infrastructure projects that position it as a potential key driver of the UK’s growth. From global firms, such as Rolls-Royce and Toyota, to the forthcoming Great British Rail having their headquarters in the region, it could play a crucial role in the country’s economy as it devolves from central Government.

Meanwhile, innovative developments such as grid fusion projects and Step Fusion technology are paving the way for clean energy production, infrastructure upgrades and housing – all of which could be accelerated under devolved governance. There’s lots of potential in the region – but how do we connect the dots?

A key barrier is that national funding allocations are imbalanced – transport investment, for instance, currently stands at £360 per head, significantly lower than the £700 per head allocated to the North West. Imbalances like this limit the East Midlands’ ability to scale up its economic impact. There was a clear consensus around the table that without the ability to control funding decisions at a local level, the region risks falling behind in connectivity, workforce mobility, and its ability to attract business investment.

A critical takeaway from the discussion was the need to transition from isolated projects to a coherent, long-term programme. At present, individual stakeholders often compete to get one project delivered at a time, with a lack of scale and pace in delivery threatening to undermine ambitious national targets like the 1.5 million homes delivery. But shifting to a programme-focused approach would give the region visibility over its pipeline and workforces and ensure government targets properly align with team resources.

A structured, multi-year strategy will also enable councils, developers, and contractors to recruit and retain skilled professionals, addressing talent shortages while enhancing long-term infrastructure delivery.

The skills shortage was another key barrier to growth highlighted in the discussion, something SCAPE also pointed to in our Charter for Change. For a start, many young people in the East Midlands don’t see construction as a viable, long-term career, and while the government’s skills campaign will go some way to address this, the issue isn’t just around sector visibility. Funding, again, came up here – not just for the public sector but for SMEs too. Without certainty over funding or pipeline stability, SMEs hesitate to take on apprentices. Our participants agreed that creating a clear, long-term pipeline of work is vital to ensuring the next generation of workers feel empowered to join the industry.

There are positive steps being taken to plug the skills gap, with Nottingham Trent University collaborating with the East Midlands Investment Zone to address the growing need for expertise in green construction technologies. Collaboration – whether between academia and industry, or between public and private sectors – came up several times as a necessary step to maximise efficient delivery. The Arc Partnership—a joint venture between SCAPE and Nottinghamshire County Council – was cited as an example of how public-private collaboration can work well here. The partnership bridges the expertise gap between the public and private sectors, enabling a streamlined approach to development opportunities and, crucially, delivering capital receipts for the County Council. Arc Partnership’s strategic partnership with Nottingham Trent University also enables both organisations to benefit from sharing industry best practice, inputting into curriculum design and access to placement students.

Collaborations such as this one also provide an opportunity for councils to take risks they might otherwise be prohibited from taking, whilst also tapping into another talent pool. As councils across the region look to deliver large, complex projects at scale over the coming years, partnerships like this will be invaluable.

The roundtable discussion underscored that the East Midlands has everything it needs to thrive – industry giants, a rich geographic landscape, and promising infrastructure projects. Done well, devolution will support the region in becoming a national powerhouse of economic growth, but it will need careful planning, collaboration, and long-term, strategic thinking.

Thank you to all our participants who made this discussion such a lively, forward-thinking and engaging conversation. It was a brilliant way to bring the past year of Building for Public Good roundtables to a close, giving SCAPE a full picture of how our public built environment can get Britain building again. Keep your eyes peeled for our full report coming soon!