Recommendation 4

HM Government Accepted in Part

The government agrees on the importance of exploiting the full potential of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor and partially agrees with the recommendation. Since January 2025, we have taken significant steps to unlock and accelerate growth across the region that delivers benefits for the whole country. We agree with the Committee that we must exploit the Corridor’s full potential which is why we are taking an infrastructure-first approach, ensuring that future growth can be realised in a way that is sustainable for communities and brings benefits to all people who live and work in the Corridor. The government remains committed to delivering a long-term plan for the Corridor and will continue to articulate these plans over the course of this Parliament. We have funded major transport infrastructure investments to strengthen connectivity across the Corridor, including £2.5 billion for East West Rail and £120 million to reopen the Cowley Branch Line in Oxford, backed by an additional £35 million from local partners. These landmark investments will directly tackle long standing infrastructure barriers and unlock new transport links between high-value clusters. Improved east to west connectivity will also benefit towns between Oxford and Cambridge – such as Bedford and Milton Keynes – by supporting growth and making it easier to live, work and collaborate across the region. We have also committed to building two new reservoirs in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire to ensure there is sufficient water capacity for the long-term future of the region. We agree with the Committee’s report referencing the important issue of housing and we are already providing over £800 million to support housing and development in the Corridor, including to support potential Development Corporations in Greater Cambridge and Greater Oxford, subject to consultation and statutory processes. We are consulting on the next generation of New Towns, which could include Tempsford and Milton Keynes as key sites for further development and growth and help realise the potential of the central area of the Corridor through new homes, local employment opportunities and supporting infrastructure. We will deliver a new National Forest in the Corridor, as part of our wider commitment to ensure growth does not come at the expense of making beautiful and healthy places to live and work. Together, these measures ensure the foundations are in place for the Corridor to realise its full potential. We also agree with the Committee that the Corridor is already world- leading in terms of its status as an innovation hub and in key science and technology sectors. To bolster this position, we have established the UK’s first AI Growth Zone in Culham, backed by £2.5 billion for fusion at UKAEA; awarded £15 million to the Cambridge Innovation Hub; and have worked with the private sector to secure multi-billion pound investments in Oxford, Bedford, and Cambridge, including major commercial investments such as Universal Studios in Bedfordshire. This will support significant job creation, skills development and supply-chain opportunities, with benefits extending to surrounding towns and regions across the Corridor. We agree with the Committee’s reflection on this, and these investments support attracting high-value firms and talent into the region to support long-term economic growth. To help attract further inward investment, we published an investment prospectus for the Corridor in October 2025 to demonstrate the strengths and opportunities in the Corridor to businesses and investors. We are clear that growth in the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor must deliver benefits for the whole of the UK. Securing growth in the Corridor is a core part of our wider growth strategy focused on boosting productivity, living standards and investment across all regions. The Corridor’s success supports national supply chains and investment in priority sectors, while knowledge and expertise are shared through partnerships between leading universities, such as the Cambridge and Manchester Universities Innovation Partnership. Lessons from the Corridor are also informing approaches in other growth regions, including the Northern Growth Corridor, to support innovation-led growth nationwide.