Metro Dynamics is today publishing Time to Get Serious about Inclusive Growth, as the start of a year of work on how the UK can strengthen the role of place in policy setting and delivery.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that Britain faces ‘profound economic challenges’. These will be hard times for places throughout the country: with renewed pressures on Council budgets, as the demand pressures caused by the cost of living crisis continue to rise. Meanwhile, the viability of many capital projects will be threatened by the rising cost of finance and delivery, at precisely the time when places will sorely need the stimulus these projects could provide. In our view, these compounding factors make it all the more critical for towns and cities not just to focus on confronting their immediate challenges, but to put equal priority on developing a more sustainable and inclusive growth model for their places.
Successive Governments of different political colours have overseen a widening of the spatial inequalities that are such a distinctive and unwanted feature of the UK’s economic geography. Policies have come and gone and the sense of economic, political and environmental permacrisis and flux has deepened. Local leaders and officers have worked tirelessly for their places. As the country faces a period of recession and inflation, alongside deep concern about the environment, it is more important than ever that we find an approach to inclusive and sustainable growth that actually works for the cities and towns of the UK.
The agenda we propose for place based inclusive growth will need the support of Government and not just Councils, MCAs and businesses. The national building blocks needed have been discussed for a long time and the case for them is as strong as ever; a serious productivity strategy, fair and sufficient funding, and further devolution. In a period of economic crisis, as we head towards the end of the current Parliament and another General Election, we will explore further how these can enable place-based inclusive growth. But as befits a business that has its head and heart in place, not Whitehall, our primary focus will be on three key issues for towns and cities to which we will return time and again in the months ahead. They are as follows:
1. Investment and innovation
Innovation is one of the UK’s competitive advantages, and has played a huge role in the success of some of our high-performing cities and towns. But how, practically, can we foster it? Which investments will help, and which will become white elephants? Which places are well set up for innovative clusters, and how can we ensure the benefits are felt by the people in those places as well as in surrounding towns?
2. Prevention and human capital development
Particularly in light of Covid-19, many places are now looking at the interface between people based services and growth. We know that Covid-19 hit some groups harder than others. But what are the practical changes we need to make to deliver improvements in health, housing and skills ? How do we establish a clear role for local government in leadership on health improvement, skills and employment? What public service reforms are needed? And how do we work across the system to incentivise prevention and early intervention?
3. Adapting to climate change and growing the green economy
In recent years, many Councils and places have declared climate emergencies, and there is increasing traction on the need for net zero. But moving from theory to practice is hard. How can places achieve their climate ambitions? Do they have the levers and tools necessary? What powers might enable places to speed up transition to net zero?
As colleagues, partners and clients we are keen to work with you to further develop this agenda out over the next year. We look forward to working with you on this.