MAKE SPACE FOR BETTER PLACE

By Evelyn John, Managing Director

10 July 2024

Right now, the UK is a jumble of places subject to a patchwork approach to governance, funding and powers. This follows years of competitive funding rounds and selective, inconsistent approaches to devolution. The whole has been left less than the sum of its parts.

All of us who work with local and regional government know there is huge potential waiting to be unleashed – self-sustaining, resilient communities with safe homes, social infrastructure and education that leads to secure jobs and good lives for all. 

There is a golden opportunity for something better and we cannot let this moment pass. Our new political landscape must change local places and local power dynamics. It must reboot agency, independence and trust, creating rich, fulfilling lives for people who have been left behind for a long time.

All places can and should have the power to unlock local opportunity, wellbeing and prosperity. And there are clear ways to do this.

First, we need an intentionally-designed framework for regional government that fits the size and shape of the needs of people and the places where they live. Effective devolution should create the right scale, fiscal powers and financial capacity to drive coalitions across place, implement policy and crowd in investment to deliver long-term sustainable outcomes. This cannot be a case of handing power from one top-down institution to another.

Now is also the time to consider how power and resources are shared with local communities, businesses and all local public services so decision-making is shaped by those closest to where the impact is felt. 

Today there is too much disparity between and within places where competition for finite resources often results in the success of the few while power, capacity and control are concentrated in the hands of a top-down state or through a hotchpotch of regional agreements.

It is this system that has been unable to stem the tide of the increased inequality and lack of opportunity we see in the news headlines every day – low wages that have pushed 900,000 children into poverty; 145,800 children recorded as being homeless in 2024; almost half a million people on waiting lists for care in residential settings or at home; 7.5 million people waiting for an NHS appointment, and more.

Building better places is not just about achieving targets for new homes and GP surgeries alongside the usual crisis response for people who have been failed by the system. It is about designing for the best possible lives, being preventative, nourishing services and opportunities, local economies, education and skills.

It is tempting to tell the new government there is one thing it can do to make the biggest difference now, but there is no single silver bullet.

It is not possible to do this with a handed-down template from central government. It requires coalitions of partners, citizens and sectors across place who work together to pool resources, invest in design and deliver shared outcomes. These coalitions are best placed to think about what they need in order to deliver their agreed purpose – be that development corporations, investment vehicles or community trusts. 

The goal must be to start measuring the success of local economies in more than just gross value added terms. We need to look beyond narrow definitions of growth ambition that consider the in-time and in-budget implementation of capital investment portfolios as good enough.

If inequality is not improving in a place, sustainability is out of reach. And, if communities are disengaged, then growth strategies are not working. If you want to improve employment opportunities for 16-18-year-olds, or for the over-60s, you need to link your capital investment to those same outcomes.

If your place needs different targeted responses to different groups of people, you must build those outcomes in from the start. And all levels of government must see themselves accountable for shifting these dials, not on growth for growth's sake.

Building a good place means ensuring the people who live in it have the independence and confidence to walk towards opportunity on their own terms. That is why, in my role at Inner Circle, I care deeply about harnessing all our expertise to design and deliver growth, while also ensuring local people are ready to make the most of these positive changes through early intervention and prevention.

Our experience shows it is essential to build capacity and capability, both in services and in fostering growth, to really enable places to forge their own path to success. 

It is tempting to tell the new government there is one thing it can do to make the biggest difference now, but there is no single silver bullet.

We can but hope we have a government confident enough to create the conditions of success through long-term commitment, long-term plans and long-term funding. Equally, regional and local government and its partners will need to be ready to embrace such an opportunity. 

A mission to transform places, realise local potential, and create shared prosperity will take a whole-system approach, with bravery, imagination and collaboration from all of us – institutions, businesses and communities alike. Let's not miss our chance.