Finance
Levelling up – bringing the buzzword to life Rob Whiteman, CIPFA CEO, details the opportunity to bring public services closer together to better meet the needs of local areas Levelling up is the political catchphrase of the The pandemic has taken these inequalities moment, but one that is so all-encompassing and turbo-charged them. The effect of school it has become rather difficult to pin down. closures will likely be felt in educational However, in broad strokes, most seem to attainment for some time to come. The agree it is focused on creating a more impact of the pandemic on key economic equitable and inclusive society in which sectors such as hospitality, entertainment and regions, communities and individuals are tourism has left many people out of work and enabled and empowered to achieve the best dependent on the state. Young people have outcomes possible. been particularly disadvantaged Inequality is a stubborn by a much more volatile feature of life in the UK. A labour market, hindering Levellin decade of fiscal austerity their ability to enter the g has left deep scars across workforce. u p i s a n many public services. It is therefore no ambitio A recent report by the great surprise that a u s p a olicy genda, Institute for Fiscal phrase like levelling risk of mbut runs the Studies found that, up, promising to be e a n prior to the pandemic, a lever by which to i n much t g income inequality was address some of these o too m too higher than most other complex, systemic issues, people any developed countries, the is politically and publicly gender pay gap had stopped popular. The Prime Minister falling, and prosperity varied himself even attributed wildly across different regions. recent election success in the This sense that some regions have been former Labour stronghold of Hartlepool left behind or forgotten is consistently cited in part to levelling up, saying that ‘these as one of the largest factors in the fall of the election results are an instruction to us to Red Wall in the last general election. keep our focus on what matters – more
jobs and investment, better public services and levelling up opportunity in every single community across the country’. However, despite the fact that levelling up seems to be being positioned as a panacea for those regions and groups in the UK that feel undervalued and left behind, many, including us at CIPFA, have struggled to alight a clear definition of what exactly is meant by the phrase. Does the direction of travel imply that no one will be left any worse off, despite pressures on spending and a heavy national debt burden? With details on exactly what levelling up should look like thin on the ground, there remains a risk that policy will be fragmented, evaluation difficult and accountability evasive. However, for the purposes of this article, let us assume that the objective and definition behind levelling up is what the rhetoric suggests – reduced inequality, improved outcomes and elevated communities. As a committed localist myself, I would always advocate for devolution of fiscal powers taking a leading role in any policy agenda that seeks to empower under-served local areas. After all, it is local councils, their officers and their political leadership that E
Issue 28.4 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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