The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has unveiled a new 10-year Growth Plan that aims to add £10 billion to the regional economy and create tens of thousands of jobs by 2035.
The plan was officially announced on Monday October 13 by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram and includes long-term economic strategies for the region.
The 80-page Local Growth Plan sets out how Liverpool City Region will attract investment and build a fairer, greener future for residents across all six of its boroughs.
It is supported by an £11 billion investment pipeline across sectors such as health innovation, clean energy, digital technology, and public and private projects in infrastructure.
Mayor Steve Rotheram called it ‘a blueprint for a fairer, greener, more prosperous future for everyone in our city region’.
What do different groups stand to gain from the plan?
- Local residents: more secure and well-paid jobs, improved public services, and better transport links connecting neighbourhoods to allow new work and study opportunities.
- Businesses: support with innovation and expansion, opportunities to scale up through investment zones, and access to local research hubs.
- Universities and colleges: more industry partnerships especially in science and technology, plus funding for research and skills development.
- Public services and the NHS: innovation hubs to assess new treatments, technologies, and healthcare solutions whilst creating new jobs in the process.
- Investors and developers: more straightforward infrastructure plans, transport upgrades, and land use priorities to drive confidence and private-sector growth.
One of the most heavily-backed proposals within the plan is Health Innovation Liverpool (HIL), which is a £550 million project aiming to generate around 2,200 jobs and over £1 billion of economic growth.
It will bring together researchers, clinicians, and businesses in one purpose-built health innovation campus, aiming to encourage collaboration between universities, NHS trusts and medical start-ups.
The project is part of a wider Life Sciences Innovation Zone, which is predicted to attract £800 million in investment and as many as 8,000 local jobs.
Alongside HIL, the zone will include a mental health science park at Maghull, an Engineering Biology Futures site in Speke, and expansions of AI and robotics laboratories across the region.
According to the Growth Plan, these health focused investments could not only make Liverpool a national leader in life sciences, but also directly improve public wellbeing due to faster medical trials and better job access for local residents.
Bekah McNulty, 21, is a third-year nursing student at the University of Liverpool thinks the project “could make a big difference” to healthcare across the region.
She said: “From the sound of it, it could mean faster diagnostics, improved treatments, and a closer relationship between hospital departments and research labs.”
She added that it could also benefit patients through quicker access to new treatment and clinical trials.
Bekah also believes that the project like could open new doors for nurses.
She said new specialist roles in things like clinical research and health data, and could appear, meaning that nurses might be involved in monitoring patients in trials or helping test new medical devices.
The Combined Authority says it will monitor progress through transparent updates and public accountability and that it will be reviewed regularly against key targets for job creation, investment, and productivity.
