Levelling Up News: 19 February
This is the fortnightly newsletter from the Levelling Up Taskforce. If it’s been forwarded on to you, you can subscribe using the link below. If you don’t want to get this, just click the link at the bottom to unsubscribe.
NEWS AND STATS
John Penrose MP publishes his review of the UK’s competition regime. The report recommends stronger powers for consumer watchdogs, doubling down on the ‘one-in-two-out’ regulation system, and taking action against internet monopolies. (gov.uk)
A new £8 million in Government funding is announced to support 1,000 SME manufacturers across the West Midlands and North of England to adopt cutting-edge technologies and level up productivity. (gov.uk)
Siemens invests £40m to build a brand new rail manufacturing site in Goole, Yorkshire. The development is set to create 700 direct jobs and will open in 2023. (MTD MFG)
What is the zoomshock?
A new study shows how the dramatic increase in working from home - a reallocation of workers from cities to residential suburbs - has increased demand for local services in some parts of the country, and decreased demand elsewhere.
28% of neighbourhoods experienced a negative zoomshock, but these account for 54% of all employment in the local service sector.
In the most deprived neighbourhoods, around 45% of people work in the local services sector, which means that this zoomshock will likely increase geographic inequality. (Read in full here)
Regional research institutes boost local innovation
Establishing new applied research institutions increased regional patenting activity by 7% and patent quality by 10%, a new Swiss study finds. These effects persist over the medium term.
The new Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) helped foster innovative activity outside existing major innovation centres and smaller firms intensified their applied research through collaboration and hiring UAS graduates. (More here)
GRAPH OF THE WEEK
The density of pubs and bars in an area (pubs per square kilometre) correlates with the number of patent registrations, following on from this fascinating study on innovation during the prohibition era in the US.
VIEW OF THE WEEK
Dr James Davies MP
At the 2019 General Election, which brought about my return to Parliament after an enforced two year break, our party made a pledge to ‘Level Up’ the United Kingdom. Whilst previous Governments have attempted to support left-behind parts of the UK through projects such as the ‘Northern Powerhouse’, there has been a pressing need for a comprehensive, nationwide ‘Levelling Up’ agenda for a number of decades.
Unfortunately, a convincing argument can be put forward that, of all parts of the UK, North Wales is one of those in most need of support. A beautiful area it may be, but it contains far too many pockets of severe deprivation. Since the creation of the Welsh Assembly in 1999, the region has been overlooked and misunderstood by Cardiff whilst UK Government Ministers have had decreasing authority to intervene. Health and education provision has been particularly concerning and the last year has further highlighted the challenges of devolution in Wales. If my area is to thrive as I know it can, the UK Government and the centre-right approach that North Wales voted for in 2019 must have a role in the years ahead.
Private industry has already recognised the economic and environmental potential in North Wales, as we seek to establish our area as a hub for clean energy. Offshore renewables, hydrogen with carbon capture and storage, and nuclear power - all within a small geographic area - can play a significant role in delivering the UK’s net-zero ambitions. However, there is still a risk that the potential of our region will remain untapped without UK Government intervention.
To deliver well-balanced and sustained growth in North Wales, a fast and efficient rail service is essential. The 65 miles from Prestatyn in my constituency to central Manchester takes up to 105 minutes on the train, whilst the same distance is covered in under 50 minutes in many parts of southern England. Rail travel to our regional airports in Liverpool and Manchester is more difficult still. Driving is considerably quicker and sometimes the sole option. Our transport infrastructure is actively discouraging business and investors, tourists and potential new residents.
To bring transport infrastructure up to a level which would be recognisable in the South East, a significant amount of time and money will be required – but that should not be an excuse for inaction.
A central pillar of the Government’s agenda, and the dominating national infrastructure project for the foreseeable future, HS2, will provide increased capacity and faster, reliable rail services down the spine of Great Britain. It is essential that more peripheral regions – those often most in need of levelling up – are plugged into this. For North Wales, it means electrification of the Crewe-Holyhead mainline. Currently, this features as little more than an ambition 20 years hence, courtesy of the decarbonisation agenda. As Chair of the Mersey Dee North Wales APPG, I have been calling for this deadline to be moved forward to 2030, allowing transformational connections to London, Manchester, Birmingham and trans-Pennine routes.
North Wales will be a leading light in our national push for clean energy: as we help the UK, so must the Government do what it can to help us. Delivering much needed rail and road infrastructure will be an investment in the region and people that I represent. As we look at the opportunities which the UK has beyond the grip of Covid-19, I am determined that my constituents should benefit from an ambitious ‘Levelling Up’ agenda.
ABOUT US
The Taskforce is made up of more than 60 (and growing!) Conservative MPs from constituencies right across the country.
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