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New analysis shared exclusively with Sky News concludes that the government’s efforts to level up the most deprived parts of the UK will fail without a shift in focus.
Today, the government will release its detailed plan for levelling up the “left behind” parts of the UK.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “It is a vision for the future that will see public spending on R&D increased in every part of the country; transport connectivity improving; faster broadband in every community; life expectancies rising; violent crime falling; schools improving; and private sector investment being unleashed.”
But the New Economics Foundation (NEF) says the current plans, which prioritise place-based funding, fall short – as they don’t put enough emphasis on investing in people.
Dr Miatta Fahnbulleh, NEF chief executive, says the current approach focuses too much on infrastructure.
“If you look at much of the country that’s held back, that remedy just doesn’t work,” she says. “You need to start with the people, you need to start trying to drive up living standards.”
She says that to achieve this, more decision-making needs to happen at the local level.
Today’s plans detail how the government will decentralise power by increasing the number of city-region mayors and offering every part of England a “London-style” devolution deal.
But the NEF has questioned how effective this will be if mayors aren’t given more funding to invest, powers to raise local tax and “real control” over decisions that shape the lives and livelihoods of the community.
So, what’s the evidence that just investing in an area doesn’t work?
More than £4bn has already been allocated to level up deprived parts of the UK through job and business creation.
However, while investing in infrastructure drives productivity, it will not necessarily increase household incomes.
Take Sunderland, for example. Since the 1980s, this North East city has grown into the UK’s leading hub for car production, with 20,000…
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Source : skynews
