A five-year strategy has been set out by Leeds City Council with the aim of ensuring the City flourishes – driving regeneration, development, opportunities, better education and health amongst many other things. The strategy, which is expected to be approved by the council’s executive board on Wednesday highlights 12 ‘big ideas’ which will transform Leeds by 2023.

Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and a confirmed speaker at our West Yorkshire Economic Growth Conference in September, said: ”The Leeds Inclusive Growth Strategy and its 12 big ideas will reduce inequality in our city and help to ensure Leeds is a compassionate city with a strong economy that provides opportunities for all.”

We take a look at the twelve big ideas from the strategy:

Digital City

Leeds has a strong reputation for their digital business – and the council want bring the whole city into the digital age. Vastint, who’re leading on the South Bank regeneration, mentioned just that when speaking at our event earlier this year – they see digital connectivity and business as a driving force for economic growth and better living within Leeds. Digital infrastructure will be key to increasing productivity, technology and data can improve health and wellbeing, whilst adapting to change can enable the Leeds workforce to compete better nationally and globally.

Double The Size Of The City Centre

We heard it from Tom Riordan at our event last year – Leeds City Centre will DOUBLE in size. It’s a hugely exciting time with the South Bank regeneration, Leeds train station being transformed with the impending arrival of HS2, and other plans for Quarry Hill, Eastgate and the West End. Urban areas will be brought into Leeds and the surrounding communities will suddenly find themselves within distance of the centre – with several new train stations also planned across the region. And we’ll see a new innovation district around the Universities and NHS Hospital which will drive innovation, new technologies and skilled jobs in high-value sectors.

Improving Infrastructure

Congestion is a real issue within the City of Leeds and Leeds City Council are determined to secure additional funding to make significant improvements to infrastructure and networks. A key feature will be to invest within making the city’s transport system cleaner, greener and more efficient – whilst they’ve also highlighted the need for better cycling routes.

Creating Jobs

Jobs will naturally come from the huge regeneration and developments happening in the City – put to ensure the rest of the Leeds region benefits there needs to be a real investment in employment opportunities and more importantly the connectivity to ensure that workers can get there, efficiently and cheaply.

Aire Valley Enterprise Zone. Thorpe Park. Thorp Arch. White Rose. Capitol Park. Kirkstall Forge. Leeds Bradford Airport.

These are just a few of the areas which Leeds City Council are investing to drive jobs, creating better connectivity links, and provide stronger and better communities. The aim will be to provide a much better connectivity and network of public transport offerings.

Better Jobs, Better Pay

There is set to be a real focus by Leeds City Council to try and ensure ‘the real living wage’ to enable people to live better within Leeds. City living can be much more expensive and with 80,000 full and part-time staff within Leeds on less than £8.75 an hours there is a lot to do to convince businesses to apply the real living wage. They’ll also be investing and supporting small and medium-sized businesses which continue to thrive in Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region.

Prioritising Children 

A key aim within the strategy is to raise the standard of schools and teaching across Leeds – reducing the disparity between the brightest and the biggest under achievers – whilst ensuring that children are ready for the world of work once they leave education. Skills is a huge focus within our industry at the moment, and we need to ensure that the workers of tomorrow understand the opportunities within the working world and give them the skills needed to succeed and help contribute to the economy.

Being Prepared For Economic Changes

The Council will look to accelerate the delivery of affordable homes – aiming to build 1,230 every year, whilst also targeted to build enough high-quality home for families. They’ll be working alongside the Government, Homes England, the Housing Infrastructure Fund and more to ensure investment and funding is in place to help run-down and deprived neighbourhoods within the communities of Leeds.

Leaders In Health And Wellbeing

Improving health is a huge area for Leeds City Council – and they’re leading the charge on improving the health of the city’s poorest people, and quickly. The Council will be tackling this by improving education and training to increase social mobility whilst helping people of all ages to enjoy healthy, active lifestyles and help them manage their own health more effectively.

The Heart of Culture

Millions of people visit Leeds every year to enjoy leisure activities. With two leading sport teams in Leeds United and Leeds Rhinos along with international sporting events such as the Tour de Yorkshire and World Triathlon Series sport is one of the first which comes to mind. The BBC Leeds Festival, Leeds Arena and the O2 drive numerous spectators of music and arts to the area and Leeds it also building toward a Year of Culture in 2023. The events raise the profile of Leeds and generate thousands towards the city’s economy, and they’ll continue to drive new events and cultural activities to the City.

New Businesses – Backing Innovation And Entrepreneurs

An area of real positivity within Leeds is the amount of small independent businesses. More than half of Leeds’ workforce is employed by smaller businesses like this – and they play a vital role in the local economy. But Leeds City Council want that to continue – and the strategy sets out plans to lobby in government for additional support and investment, support projects such as the High Speed Engineering College and do more to support growth of high-value areas such as manufacturing and medical firms.

Promote Leeds And West Yorkshire

It’s already attracting more investment, and the developments happening across the City will only aid those conversations. Leeds is a great place to work, live and visit, and a lot of work will happen on promoting this message further afield. They’ll be working with authorities across the region and Government in the cases of Department of International Trade and more to drive their message and City to more people. That way they’ll attract more investment, and retain more talent within the City – helping it thrive.

Putting Employers Central To Education

Collaboration within education is set to be a real focus as Leeds City Council look to bring together education and education providers to ensure youngsters are prepared for the world of work. The strategy states: ”We want our employers to commit to invest more in skills training, engage more with schools, and deepen their involvement in education.”

It’s sure to be a key focus of the West Yorkshire Economic Growth Conference – with skills and education, housing, jobs, industrial strategy and much more taking the focus with over 40 public and private sector leaders set to speak.