Why we need to steel ourselves for a new industrial policy

By Mike Emmerich

There is a view that after its post war flirtation with Morrisonian nationalisation and then Thatcherite privatisation, British industrial policy has settled into a new and desirable norm. As I write this blog, Janan Ganesh’s latest piece for the FT is staring at me. “The quiet success of Britain’s anarchic economic model” reads the headline, setting the tone for an argument to be heard often in parts of Britain that we have moved beyond the rigidity of our more doctrinaire past, and in doing so past our old rivals in France, and maybe even in Germany too, in creating a model that has fixed the generations-old British disease.

Budget 2016: What it means for cities

By Simge Kartav

Yesterday the Chancellor George Osborne delivered his third budget in 12 months.  In his 62-minute speech, changes to tax rates and savings took centre stage. However, his announcements on devolution, transport and business rates are those that will inevitably have a big impact on cities in the UK. 

The Chancellor emphasised that the ‘devolution revolution’ will carry on full speed and announced new deals with the West of England, East Anglia, and Greater Lincolnshire. The Chancellor will be building on existing devolution deals with Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Sheffield City Region, the North East and Tees Valley; soon 57% of the population of the North of England will be represented by elected mayors. Previously agreed mayoral devolution deals will also each receive unringfenced single pots of funding to spend on local priorities, worth £2.86 billion in total.

A Northern Brew

By Mike Emmerich & Irene Guillet

When there’s a beer named after a Government initiative, something unusual is happening. Thus it is with the Northern Powerhouse. What’s more, the beer in question, a first joint concoction of the Bradford and Leeds Breweries, is a deliberate homage to the spirit of intercity cooperation. And yet to a lot of people the Powerhouse is a failure (because the North-South gap remains) or a con (the work of a Chancellor bent on devolving cuts to gullible local politicians). A little over eighteen months after it was launched, this idea is consumer product, a failure and a conspiracy, or so some would have you believe. There is evidence to sustain only the first of these.

Great Western Cities one step closer to realising Britain’s Western Powerhouse

The Great Western Cities today released its report ‘Britain’s Western Powerhouse’, authored by Metro Dynamics. The report examines the benefits of greater ‘sharing, matching and learning’ between the three city regions – including an influential role for universities, businesses and civil society. The report also identifies major potential for the three city regions in strengthening transport links, expanding renewable energy and improving its international profile.

Why the Devolution Revolution might just secure the future funding of our green spaces…

By Sarah Whitney

On Saturday morning, I put on my walking boots, and headed to our local country park for a couple of hours.  Harry, my Airedale terrier, greeted everyone we met as long-lost friends, chased umpteen squirrels (and caught none), and braved the freezing cold river for a swim.  The park was full of people: golfers-a-plenty, children having a first go at orienteering, horses nervously picking their way through the mud, and many people like me, just out enjoying the leg stretch and winding down from the demands of the previous week.

This week, the Land Trust, published a fascinating report on the economic and societal benefits of these sorts of green spaces. The Land Trust, if you haven’t come across it before, is a charity that owns and manages public open spaces for the benefit of the community.  I should declare an interest here - I am very proud to be a trustee of this remarkable organisation. 

Post-code lottery in education is not inevitable

By Simge Kartav

The North-South divide is not only apparent in the economy but it has also become evident in education. This was once again highlighted by a new Commission launched by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) last week. The cross-party initiative is examining the causes and effects of inequality in education at primary and secondary levels in England and Wales.

Initial research from the Commission paints a grim picture - inequality in educational achievement between regions has grown over the past thirty years. There are significant variations in terms of GCSE performance between regions, with over 70% of pupils in London achieving 5 good GCSEs compared to 63% in Yorkshire & Humber. In fact, these regional differences in attainment are already apparent by the end of primary school and are observable even when controlling for other factors such as ethnicity and income.

Not so grim up north

By Mike Emmerich (with thanks to Helen Pidd) 

This week's Economist newspaper carries an article on the BBC's move to Manchester under the heading "Not So Grim Up North" for which I supplied a couple of quotes. Judging from the messages I've had and (by my standards) significant feedback on Twitter, one quote in particular seems to have struck a chord, namely that the BBC is a handful of moves away from retrenching from the significant relocation it made in Salford Quays.

ONS review should focus on need for better city region data

By Kevin Fenning

Last week saw the release of the Interim Report by Sir Charles Bean on the state of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The headlines that accompanied the release mostly focussed on the Report’s assertion that the ONS’s move from London to Newport has been detrimental to its performance.

This is unfortunate for two reasons:

Firstly, it unfairly maligns the idea that high quality, highly technical public services can be delivered from outside London. Given the need for the UK to develop alternative hubs of economic strength that complement London’s global city strengths, and the ongoing process of devolution of political and fiscal power to the UK’s other great cities, this is a very troubling message.

A devolution revolution?

By Ben Lucas

The immediate headlines from the Spending Review 2015 will be all about how George Osborne escaped from the straightjacket he had put on himself. This is particularly true with the U-turn on tax credits and the decision not to cut the police and FE budgets. He was hugely helped in this by the OBR happening to find £27bn of extra revenues as result of revised forecasts - proving the old adage that there's always something to be found at the back of the sofa.

But the real significance of the Spending Review lies elsewhere. Two substantial and important shifts are taking place, from the state to the private sector, and from central government to cities. The state may be shrinking to 36% of GDP by the end of the Parliament, but it is business that is being asked to pay for this. This is a fairly ruthless appropriation of Labour policy before the last election. Business will pay the cost of phasing out tax credits in the future through the introduction of the Living Wage and yesterday we learned that the Apprenticeship Levy will raise £11.6bn over the next four years.

Business rates and fiscal devolution: the beginning but not the end…

By Sarah Whitney

The MJ is running an interesting survey this week  reporting local government’s view of the planned 100% retention of business rates. Almost 90% of chief executives and finance officers surveyed considered that giving local government control of the business rate still didn’t go far enough in terms of fiscal devolution.

Here’s why…

First some history. Prior to 1 April 2013, business rates were collected by local authorities and then remitted to the Exchequer. The Exchequer then redistributed the rates back to local authorities, on a needs-basis, through the Formula Grant System. In that context, variations in business rates, which total approximately £23 billion per annum, were dwarfed by the £548 billion of other tax receipts central government receives.