Levelling Up, What Does This Mean?

The Levelling Up White Paper was recently published and here are the key points.

The Levelling Up Secretary advised that the policy is about “turbo charging the potential of every part of the UK” by 2030 and outlines each of the 12 missions:

Mission 1: Pay, employment and productivity to have risen in every area of the UK with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.

Mission 2: Investment in Research and Development to increase by 40 per cent across the North, Midlands, South West, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Mission 3: Public transport connectivity across the UK to be “significantly closer to the standards of London” including integrated ticketing and simpler fares. Mr Gove said a total of £5bn is being invested in buses and active travel.

Mission 4: The UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.

Mission 5: The number of primary school children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will have significantly increased to 90 per cent. The percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by over a third.

Mission 6: The number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.

Mission 7: The gap in Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest will have narrowed, and by 2035 HLE will rise by five years.

Mission 8: Well-being will have improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.

Mission 9: Pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.

Mission 10: Renters will have a secure path to home ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas. The Government’s ambition is for the number of non-decent rented homes to have fallen by 50 per cent, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.

Mission 11: Homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have fallen, focused on the worst-affected areas.

Mission 12: Every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.

The economy has been unbalanced geographically for too long so the introduction of this paper and the proposals will go some way to re-balancing the economy. It would also be good to see this further enhanced by more incentives being offered to attract foreign investors and businesses to the UK and in particular, the Midlands, Northern Powerhouse and Scotland.