News & Views
By Ben Lucas
At the Core Cities Summit last week, city leaders were understandably frustrated by the suggestion that inclusive growth is on the agenda because of the EU referendum.They didn’t need Brexit to tell them that the economy is not delivering for their residents. But, as chief market strategist for Britain and Europe at JP Morgan Asset Management, Stephanie Flanders, said to those leaders, Brexit has created a unique opportunity to change our economic model
Prime minister Theresa May has said her number one priority is to develop an ‘economy that works for everyone’. In her speech on becoming prime minister she asked to be judged on the extent to which she succeeds in this.
Metro Dynamics are acting as strategic advisor and secretariat to the West Midlands Land Commission (WMLC). The role of the West Midlands Land Commission is to take a fresh look at matters affecting the West Midlands' land supply.
The commission will provide independent advice and recommendations to the authority as it seeks to secure an improved and balanced supply of land to meet its goals for economic growth, new jobs and housing.
There aren’t a lot of jokes about regulators. Here’s one. A regulator marches into a compliance manager’s office and slams down a stack of 3,331 complaints. He yells that the (banking/pharma/telecoms) company has until next Friday to respond. “And if we don’t?” “You’ll have 3,332 complaints” the regulator responds sheepishly and slinks out.
Last week, yet another UK regulator followed the script of that joke. Following an extensive investigation, Ofcom, the communications regulator, has decided to leave BT’s quasi monopoly over the UK’s broadband infrastructure essentially unchanged. This is not just bad news for the country. It is really bad news for UK cities.
By Ben Lucas
This is a moment of great risk and opportunity for British cities. Post EU referendum, post Cameron and Osborne, the stakes have never been higher. Cities have patiently and persuasively made the case for rebalancing growth and power, and for devolution to combined authorities with Metro Mayors. They now face some big challenges, as we set out in Adieu: the impact of Brexit on British Cities - on EU funding, trade, investment, universities and the progress of their devolution deals.
To the ambition of growth, long the goal of local policy makers, have been added a variety of qualifying adjectives over the years. Sustainable growth, having once been a fad has now entered the lexicon as an established term of art referring to a growth imperative that is environmentally responsible yet also in some sense socially responsible, building communities that people want to live in. Today, our concern is with socially inclusive growth.
Core Cities today released its report 'A call for greater fiscal autonomy for our cities', authored by Metro Dynamics. Read the new report here and Core Cities' response here.
Cities need a wide range of fiscal freedoms to deliver economic growth. Business rate localisation is a welcome step, but is not without risk, and should be introduced as part of a programme of wider fiscal reform - new report from Core Cities UK and Metro Dynamics.
It has been widely reported that Sir Jeremy Heywood is running his slide rule over HS2 reflecting concerns within Government that the budget for the project could be exceeded. The cost of HS2 has gradually risen over time, from £32.6 billion in January 2012 to £55 billion in November 2015, up from the previous estimate of £50 billion set two years earlier.
This increase is a particular issue, because the vast majority of the cost of building HS2 will fall on the taxpayer, with perhaps a proportion of those costs recouped on completion by the letting of a contract to operate the line. Therefore, it should be no surprise that a project of this magnitude should be subject to periodic review by one of our most senior mandarins.
