Progress on this agenda has inevitably been impacted by the pandemic. But a White Paper is on the way and the economy is starting to open up again. So now is the right time to explore what problems levelling-up can solve and what its agenda partner, building back better, might lead to.

In the East Midlands we think we have some of the answers.They come in the shape of three strategic economic opportunities which have the capacity to help deliver 84,000 jobs, thousands of homes and add £4.8bn to the value of the regional economy. The region's ambition is to drive that growth by embracing new clean and digital technologies and by steering skills and connectivity in a direction which means these opportunities are directly accessible to local people.