The Manchester mayor joined council leaders in making a case to the government to approach levelling up like Germany, which gives all regions the funding they need to close divides in living standards.
The group is urging central government to abandon the current competitive bidding system in place. Instead, they want a structure that is similar to Germany’s where areas are provided with the funding they need to close divides in living standards, and help grow the economy.
The ‘hardwiring’ of levelling up into UK law, would guarantee equivalent funding and living standards across all regions, thereby closing the north/south divide.
The calls were made at this week’s Convention of the North. Regional mayors, including Andy Burnham and Liverpool’s mayor Steve Rotheram, met community and business leaders.
The calls follow Rishi Sunak’s unveiling of the second allocation of his £2.1bn levelling up fund, which is a fundamental part of the government’s flagship ‘levelling up agenda.’
Analysis found that Conservative seats had been awarded around £20 more per person than regions with similar levels of poverty.’ Documents also showed that £19m of the funding pot will be used to regenerate the town centre in Catterick, in Sunak’s own wealthy constituency of Richmond, North Yorkshire.
The Levelling Up Bill was slammed as “hugely disappointing.” Talking to the Commons after Sunak’s announcement, Labour MP Chris Bryant described the funding allocation as completely corrupt because it is not based on need.
“… it’s not based on the on the poorest communities in the country, it’s not based on levelling up, it’s discretionary, and it’s competitive which rigs itself deliberately against the poorest communities in the land, as we’ve seen over the last 24 hours.
“So, can we have a debate in government time on corruption in the operation of slush funds in this country.”
Ahead of the Convention in the North, German minister Carsten Schneider explained how regional structural policy has long been a cornerstone of German politics.
“The goal of creating equal living conditions everywhere in Germany can even be found in our constitution. There are good reasons for it.
“If regions are drifting apart, it is bad for everyone, including for the growing regions. If a variety of regions flourish, the whole country will prosper,” said Schneider.
The northern leaders in the UK believe that potential is being held back by disparities in the North and South East in relation to living standards. For example, raising healthy life expectancy among males in the North West to the level of that in the South East, would increase it by four years. For females, it would increase by 3.5 years.
Talking about the unfairness of the prime minister’s recent levelling up announcement, Andy Burnham said:
“The Levelling Up Fund announcement last week laid bare the issues with these short-term competitive funding pots. We end up with winners and losers but nobody is able to actually plan for long-term investment in their areas. Hard-wiring levelling up into UK law would move us away from policy by press release and start to tackle the unequal living standards we have in our country.
“If we were able to close the gaps between the North and London and the South East, we’d see drastic improvements in everything from incomes to skills, to ultimately boosting life expectancy. This would of course be good for people in the North, but would also help grow the UK economy as a whole.
“Germany shows us what can be done when you hard-wire legal guarantees to tackle inequalities and empower local leaders into the fabric of your country. East Germany has seen long-term support and investment since the fall of communism – and it has worked. Cities in Eastern Germany are now powering ahead of cities here in the North.”
The Manchester mayor said that the North struggles to get to the top of the government’s to-do list, regardless of the political party in power.
“That’s why we need to hard-wire levelling up into UK law and unlock the potential of the North to help the whole country thrive,” he added.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
Image credit: World Economic Forum – Creative Commons
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