Tracy Brabin unveils multibillion-pound growth plan to create thousands of jobs and build a brighter region for all

Cllr James Lewis, Leader of Leeds City Council and Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Economy Committee, said:

"The launch of the Local Growth Plan marks a real milestone for West Yorkshire.

"It brings together our ambitions of reliable transport, skills for adults, well-paid jobs, and supporting and investing in our businesses meaning we can create a thriving and vibrant region.

"This plan paves the way for future generations to enjoy West Yorkshire for years to come, whether for work, leisure or tourism."

Developing a Local Growth Plan for West Yorkshire was a central manifesto pledge of Mayor Tracy Brabin and if agreed, it will be adopted locally. This will feed into work the Combined Authority is doing with the Government to develop a statutory Local Growth Plan based on shared priorities and informed by the National Industrial Strategy.

The Combined Authority will also be presented with a draft budget for 2025-26, which sets out initial plans for how funding will be allocated to deliver the ambitions of the Local Growth Plan.

Notes to editors

The five priorities of the West Yorkshire Local Growth Plan:

1) Boosting the region’s fastest growing business sectors

Mayor Brabin has identified several fast-growing business sectors which could be catalysts for major investment and job creation.

According to the Combined Authority, the region is the number one location for tech scale-ups anywhere in the country, producing 14,000 graduates a year in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, and boasting over 3,500 digital and tech businesses in the city of Leeds alone.

Other specialisms include a £6 billion financial services sector, with the region hosting the Bank of England and the new National Wealth Fund; a healthtech cluster of over 300 firms developing lifechanging technologies for patients, set to grow through a £160 million Investment Zone; and the largest manufacturing workforce in the North of England, with over 100,000 people working in industries such as textiles, space, and food and drink.

Under the Mayor’s plans, these sectors will receive “wrap-around support” through public investment and partnership with the region’s higher and further education institutions, ensuring access to skills and knowledge sharing.

To ensure a pipeline of local talent for new, well-paid jobs, these sectors will have the opportunity to co-design skills and training courses in the region. They will also be invited to contribute to a new, £3 billion co-investment fund, focused on leveraging billions more of private sector investment into small and medium-sized businesses and sites with high growth potential.

To further support these innovative entrepreneurs and businesses, a new West Yorkshire Innovation Centre of Excellence will consolidate all existing devolved innovation funding, to ensure that financing is available for small and medium-sized businesses with massive commercial potential, such as those working with advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence.

The plan also sets out aspirations to raise the level of foreign investment into West Yorkshire from £42 billion in 2021 to £56 billion by 2030, and support 500 extra businesses to export on a regular basis by 2026. By promoting West Yorkshire as a place “where opportunity lives” and strengthening relationships with key international markets such as North America, India and Germany, the Mayor will boost foreign investment while encouraging homegrown businesses to expand overseas.

2) Supporting small and medium-sized businesses to grow and succeed

All businesses in West Yorkshire will be able to access support through a new, online, universal business support system, designed to address all barriers to growth through a holistic “wheel of enterprise” model.

Under this model, firms will be advised on how they can meet their essential business needs such as access to finance, skills and markets, with targeted support for under-represented businesses including women-led, ethnic minority-led and disabled-led firms.

Businesses will be encouraged to adopt new technologies and green processes to cut their bills and become more competitive, through new public investment and peer-to-peer networks bolstered by a growing talent pool of skilled workers in the region, including through a new Mayor’s Graduate Scheme linking talented students to small and medium sized-businesses.

To assist with recruitment and retention, the West Yorkshire Fair Work Charter will be scaled up to accommodate 10,000 businesses. These firms will benefit from being part of a growing community of companies all committed to sharing best practice on supporting the wellbeing of their employees, in order to scale-up and boost growth. 

3) Building a region of learning and creativity

Everyone across West Yorkshire will be empowered to upskill and retrain throughout their lives, helping them to follow their passions, boost their household incomes, support local businesses, and contribute to a growing economy.

Through the full devolution of adult skills funding and a deeper partnership with colleges, the Mayor will work to deliver a universal, easy to navigate skills system, with clear pathways for people of all ages to access the high-quality technical education and careers of their choice.

By designing this system in partnership with health and education providers, the Combined Authority will adopt a truly “person-centred” model that takes account of a person’s health, career ambitions and training needs, before linking them with a suitable skills course and the right employer.

Those who are economically inactive or with low or no qualifications will receive extra support into training and work, with a focus on “soft skills” to build confidence and employability, alongside support with Maths, English and essential digital skills, which over 80% of jobs in the region require.

A single funding settlement for West Yorkshire in 2026 will replace five, fragmented national funding streams for adult skills provision, giving the Mayor greater freedom to co-produce training courses with local employers, addressing skills shortages and creating good jobs in key industries.

To give people a vital leg-up into the labour market, a “West Yorkshire Promise” will guarantee access to soft skills training, level 3 qualifications, internships, and other work experience opportunities.

4) Creating a better-connected and integrated transport network

West Yorkshire’s transport network will be completely revolutionised over the next ten years, with investment expected to create 12,700 new jobs.

By 2028, all bus services in the region will be operated under contract from the Combined Authority, serving the needs of communities instead of private shareholders. Bus journeys will be made faster, more reliable and more affordable through greater local control, which will allow the directly-elected Mayor to specify routes, set the pricing structure, install new bus lanes, and build a CA-owned fleet of zero-emission buses by 2036.

A new mass transit system integrating trams with buses, trains, bikes and walking routes will enable people to live their lives more easily and reach job opportunities more quickly and reliably, while easing road congestion. The first two tramlines, the Bradford Line and the Leeds Line, will form the spine of the network, which will provide popular and affordable public transport links to work, training, education, leisure and culture for everyone living and working in the region.

The £11 billion Transpennine Route Upgrade will deliver faster, more reliable train services across the Pennines. Taken together with the proposed new through station in Bradford, these upgrades would mean a journey time of 30 minutes between Bradford and Manchester, boosting economic growth. This investment would also support the development of the Bradford Southern Gateway, which could deliver 5,000 new homes and 27,000 new jobs.

Leeds Station is the busiest rail station in the North of England and responsible for a third of all delays across the wider region. An expanded Leeds Station, with more platforms, improved tracks and better pedestrian circulation, would deliver greater capacity and allow for more frequent and reliable services to and from the station, while supporting over 1,000 jobs and the regeneration of Leeds South Bank.

5) Developing thriving places

The plan would boost access to affordable, high quality housing through the delivery of 38,000 new homes on previously developed “brownfield” land alone. The CA will work with local authorities and housing providers, including through the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership, to drive the delivery of affordable and sustainable homes.

The Home Energy West Yorkshire initiative will support the creation of 30,000 well-paid jobs in the green sector deliver a home energy revolution, with a one-stop-shop providing energy efficiency finance or advice to all homeowners and renters in West Yorkshire. The initiative will help to create up to 30,000 well-paid jobs in the green sector, with Combined Authority-backed training courses for installers of insulation, solar panels and heat pumps.

The Combined Authority will work with local authorities on Local Energy Area Plans to crowd in large-scale public and private investment in renewable energy, in part through a Strategic Climate and Environment Partnership with four major private sector firms. This will help ensure that homes and businesses across the region have access to the cheap, clean power they need.

Communities and businesses will also be better-protected from flooding, through investment in flood defences alongside nature-based solutions that slow the flow of water and boost wildlife and biodiversity, increasing access to green spaces.

The development of new national cultural institutions like British Library North, The National Poetry Centre and Brit School North will turbocharge investment into the region. The once-in-a-generation Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 will attract over 15 million visitors over the next year, helping to create 7,000 new jobs and almost £400 million for the UK economy. Working with schools, the Mayor will guarantee access to arts and sports programmes for every child.

A refreshed Police and Crime Plan for West Yorkshire will continue to prioritise the safety of women and girls alongside measures to reduce serious violence and anti-social behaviour, making neighbourhoods across the region safer.

The Local Growth Plan will be discussed at a meeting of regional leaders next week (12 December) and is available here.