Growth report research revealed

Growth in The Marches LEP region is helping not only to improve the region’s prosperity, but also the levels of employment and income for the people who live and work here.
Research on the city regions of the Northern Powerhouse has provided a new tool for Local Enterprise Partnerships to measure how they are sharing economic growth with all people and places in their region.
The study, called the Inclusive Growth Monitor has given each LEP a score on 18 different indicators based on prosperity – skills, jobs, and economic output – and inclusion – how much this prosperity is accompanied by improvements in incomes at the bottom of the distribution, unemployment and the cost of living. It is the first time growth and inclusion has been measured in this way.
The study found that London and large city regions in the North saw faster than average growth in prosperity. But it also found that boosting prosperity didn’t always result in the most progress on inclusion, with both Greater Manchester and Sheffield seeing growth in prosperity, but they featured in the bottom half of the index for inclusion.
The indicator for the Marches LEP region shows progress in both prosperity and inclusion – one of only a few LEP areas to score almost equally well on both and putting the region in the top half of the index for both.
Graham Wynn, Chairman of the Marches LEP, welcomed the report saying work needed to be done to ensure that all areas and people benefitted from economic growth.
“London saw the biggest gain in prosperity but the worst in inclusion – but what we need to see across the Marches and the UK, is that growth in wealth means more employment opportunities, more chances for our workforce to gain skills and that the cost of living is affordable for everyone.”
The study found that places face different challenges to achieve high growth and high inclusion. Some regions with relatively low growth – the Black Country and Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire – saw little growth in prosperity but scored relatively well on inclusion.
London, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Dorset, Hertfordshire featured as seeing the fastest growth in prosperity