Levelling Up News: 18 September
This is the first newsletter from the Levelling Up Taskforce. If it’s been forwarded on to you, you can subscribe using the link at the bottom. If you don’t want to get this, just click the link at the bottom to unsubscribe.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
£2bn extra for housing in poorer areas. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that the next Affordable Housing Programme, which starts next year, will allocate 65% of funding to regions outside London, up from 50% at present. That means an extra £2bn investment outside the capital. (Gov.UK)
Treasury mulling investment tax break? According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Chancellor is reportedly considering introducing “full-expensing”- in effect, a tax cut to encourage firms to invest. Previous Onward research suggested such a move could particularly help poorer areas. (Sunday Telegraph)
How Coronavirus is changing the high street. Footfall is recovering faster in commuter towns than big cities, according to an Financial Times investigation (FT).
Widespread coverage for Levelling Up Taskforce launch (Summary)
VIEW OF THE WEEK
Robert Largan MP - Why we launched this taskforce
The last General Election wasn’t just about Brexit. It was about getting Westminster to wake up and help people who have been left behind by an economy too dependent on London and the South East.
The Prime Minister’s vision to unite and level up the country resonated with millions of voters, many of whom voted Conservative for the first time.
The reason it resonated is simple. For far too long, Governments of all parties have failed to do enough to get growth going in less prosperous places and help them realise their potential.
This has reduced opportunity for millions of people, and has left the UK with one of the highest levels of regional inequality in Europe.
I grew up in Manchester, going to my local comprehensive, and I helped pay for university by working on the fish counter at my local Asda. I now represent a northern constituency, which, while having some affluent areas, includes some of the most deprived communities in the country.
That’s why we’ve started this Levelling Up Taskforce, dedicated to promoting and contributing to the government’s “levelling up” agenda.
We chipped away at the ‘Red Wall’ in 2010, 2015 and 2017, electing Conservative MPs in this taskforce who have long been campaigning for levelling up.
But I know many of us elected in last year’s general election have a particular sense that we must now repay the trust of our first-time voters, and deliver real change for parts of the country that were taken for granted by Labour for decades.
The Chancellor has made a great start to the levelling up agenda with his first Budget. Over £640 billion of public investment has been promised for rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure over this parliament, from new hospitals to new railways. We’ve launched the the Towns Fund, and levelled up school funding. We’ve cut tax for those on the lowest incomes, and introduced the National Living Wage. We’ve made good progress, but so much more is needed.
This group has members right across the country, with MPs from Scotland, the North, the Midlands, Wales, the South and South West, representing all kinds of different places. This group will also allow MPs to share ideas, and support each other’s efforts to promote local growth.
As our first report noted: income per head (before tax and benefits) is now nearly 70% higher in London than the rest of the UK, up from around 30% higher in 1997. Having been the same size as the economy of the north of England as recently as 2004, London’s economy is now a quarter bigger. Of the bottom quarter of seats in Great Britain with the lowest earnings, more are now held by the Conservatives than Labour.
Britain has changed, politics has changed, and the PM’s levelling up agenda has never been more vital. We hope this group can contribute ideas and energy to that agenda, and we hope you enjoy reading.
MAP OF THE WEEK
Earnings by constituency
The map below, taken from our recent report, shows how weekly earnings for full time workers vary around the country, showing the potential for catch-up growth in large parts of the country.
Follow the link below to explore this map in more detail.
STATS OF THE WEEK
Research this week by UCL and the IFS for the Social Mobility Commission explored which areas offer the greatest opportunities for disadvantaged children to achieve their potential, and which are the least socially mobile.
91% of the least socially mobile areas in England are located in the North and Midlands (21 out of 23).
80% of the most socially mobile areas are located in London, the South East and East of England (12 out of 15).
The report raises questions about what further steps we can take to spread opportunity to young people in more places.
ABOUT US
The Taskforce is made up of more than 55 (and growing!) Conservative MPs from constituencies right across the country.
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