Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove has revealed the government’s plans to improve public services across the country and close the gap between the wealthy and so-called left-behind areas of the nation.
The levelling up agenda was one of the central principles of the 2019 Conservative election manifesto. The full strategy for its enactment, which will take until 2030 to complete, includes improvements to education, broadband and transport, which take pride of place among 12 “national missions”.
The national missions are as follows:
- Increase pay, employment and productivity in all areas of the UK, with each one containing a "globally competitive city"
- Raise public investment in research and development outside the south-east of England by 40 per cent
- Eliminate illiteracy and innumeracy by refocusing education spending on the most disadvantaged parts of the country
- Increase the number of people completing high quality skills training - in England, this will mean 200,000 more people a year
- Bring the rest of the country's public transport “significantly closer” to London standards
- Provide access to gigabit-capable broadband nationwide by 2030 and 5G mobile data coverage for the “large majority” of households
- Create more first-time homebuyers in all areas, and reduce the number of “non-decent rented homes” by 50 per cent
- Narrow the gap of healthy life expectancy between the areas where it is lowest and highest
- Improve “well-being” in every area of the UK
- Increase “pride of place”, such as people's satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community
- Reduce murder, manslaughter, serious violence and neighbourhood crime, especially in the worst-affected areas
- Provide every part of England that so desires a devolution deal with more regional powers and simplified, long-term funding
While Gove said that the levelling up plans would “shift both money and power into the hands of working people”, the Labour party has been critical of its lack of new investment and fresh ambition.
Indeed, the missions outlined in the strategy are already existing and funded government. However, Gove says that the new plans will ensure that the pledges are followed through by law.
Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, said: “Ministers have had two-and-a-half years to get this right and all we've been given is more slogans and strategies, with few new ideas.”
Labour’s own levelling up plan, covered in five points, focuses on providing faster broadband speeds for towns and villages, providing more affordable housing, and tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.
Part of the government’s plans to increase regional powers involve the creation of more regional mayors who will help channel investment where it is most needed and give every part of England “London-style powers”.
Meanwhile, derelict urban sites in 20 towns and cities will be targeted for redevelopment, in order to generate higher quality jobs.
While the government’s plans apply to solely to England, ministers have said that they wish to work with the devolved administrations to ensure levelling up becomes a UK-wide initiative.
£100 million of new government funding will be invested into research and development projects in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and the Glasgow City-Region as part of the plan. However, it has pushed back the nationwide rollout of gigabit speed broadband to 2030, having originally targeted a date of 2025 for its completion.
The government is also set to make changes to how it funds housing to achieve its goals, abolishing an existing rule which dictates that 80 per cent of funding must go to London and the southeast. This, according to Gove, will enable more money to be distributed to the north of England and the Midlands.
Gove said: “For far too long, the United Kingdom - England in particular - has had an economic powerhouse in London and the southeast but not everyone has shared in that success.”
Despite Conservative optimism around the plans, the National Audit Office [NAO] has said that the government has a “limited” understanding of what has worked well before when setting up its programme for regional economic growth.
By November 2021, the NAO said that £11 billion had been allocated by government to regenerate towns and communities up to 2025/26, but the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was not aware if the funding had the impact that was intended.
Gareth Davies, the NAO’s auditor general, commented: “With its focus on levelling up, it is vital that the department puts robust evaluation arrangements in place for its new schemes to promote local growth.”
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
