Building Skills, Creating Opportunity: How EMCCA is Helping People and Employers Thrive

The East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) is taking big steps to help more residents move into good jobs, boost life chances, and give employers the skilled people they need.

Getting the East Midlands Working

We have launched our Get East Midlands Working Plan – an ambitious drive to help 60,000 more people into work over the next decade.

Supporting Our Young People

Our Youth Guarantee Trailblazer – worth £5 million – has already supported more than 966 young people between April 2025 and December 2025, helping them better their chances of getting into education, training or employment.

Through our Careers Hub, in partnership with The Careers and Enterprise Company, we’re now supporting more than 175 schools and colleges across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire to give young people the best possible careers advice and connections.

We have also developed inspiring “Teacher Encounter” videos, created with local partners, to help teachers better understand today’s industries and inspire the future workforce.

Watch them here: Teacher Encounter Videos on YouTube

Skills for Good Work and Good Lives

We are bringing together a single skills and employment offer for adults – making sure training and support are available where they’re needed most.

Working with the Federation of Small Businesses, we are designing a new Local Skills Improvement Plan so training reflects what employers really need.

Connecting People to Opportunity

Through initiatives like the East Midlands Investment Zone, East Midlands Freeport, and the future East Midlands Good Employment Charter, we’re aligning skills, innovation and opportunity.

Using practical ideas like better skills, housing, transport, and the Opportunity Escalator pathway to better jobs, the Framework turns this vision into action. The East Midlands Growth Plan puts the Framework into practice by guiding investment, supporting local industries, and creating thriving communities with fair opportunities for all. 

Together, these efforts mean better jobs, stronger communities and a thriving East Midlands economy. Because when local people succeed, the whole region does too.