LOBBYING

ROSIE NAGLE CLA PUBLIC AFFAIRS ADVISER

rosie.nagle@cla.org.uk 020 7460 7947

t would appear that we are

Ithrough the worst of the pandemic. Th ough there is ongoing fi refi ghting from the government on multiple fronts to avoid a winter of discontent, the success of the vaccine rollout and easing of restrictions has allowed the government to be more proactive and fi nally develop a concept fi rst mooted in 2019:

‘levelling up’.

A lot has been written about the phrase: it is vague, a soundbite that sounds good on paper but doesn’t mean anything in practice and, without any major policy announcements - save for two pots of funding – there was a danger that these claims of style over substance would ring true.

However, it appears that the prime minister is seeking to change that with his reshuffl e. Th e Ministry for Housing, Communities and

Local Government was rebranded as the Department for Levelling

Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), with former Environment Secretary Michael Gove charged with steering the ship.

Th is is an interesting move, not least because Gove is considered by many in Westminster as one of the most radical thinkers of the cabinet, an accolade that explains his longevity in government (given his betrayal of Johnson following Brexit in 2016). Even members of the opposition rate his ability to get things done – at a Labour party conference fringe event in October, Shadow Environment Secretary Luke Pollard commended Gove’s tenure at Defra, commenting that his vision placed Defra at the heart of government. Th is is praise indeed. Levelling up is also Johnson’s fl agship policy and a metric by which he may well be judged at the next election, so it is paramount.

Since Gove has been at DLUHC, he has had to contend with not only levelling up, but also planning. He has paused the Planning Bill and is reviewing its contents, with offi cials poised to rewrite signifi cant parts.

Th e CLA criticised the government’s planning white paper, released last year, for overlooking the potential of the countryside by not including it in its ‘growth’ category (the other two categories being ‘renewal’ [read: urban] and ‘protected’ [read: rural]). Th is would risk leaving rural areas preserved in aspic and left behind. We hope that, with this review, Gove draws on his Defra experience and delivers planning reform that works for rural areas.

In the meantime, Gove’s task is to develop a coherent levelling up agenda with practical policy levers that deliver prosperity for the whole of the UK, not least rural areas. Th e CLA has written to Gove and to Levelling Up Minister Neil O’Brien to share with them the CLA’s publication Levelling up: Unleashing the potential of the rural economy, which contains several policy suggestions.

Gove’s appointment was not the only change, with the creation of a new ministerial position at Defra for Jo Churchill, who will be leading on science and innovation, including gene editing reform. Th is expanded brief for the department refl ects the growing role that the environment is playing in policymaking, and we welcome it. Th ese changes refl ect the new priorities for the government as we reach a new stage in recovery.

FIND OUT MORE

Visit cla.org.uk/

campaigns/rural-

powerhouse to read the CLA’s Levelling up publication

Levelling up A cabinet reshuffl e appears to have added momentum to the prime minister’s levelling up agenda, and the CLA has several policy suggestions