Northern business leaders have criticised the Government’s levelling up plans, calling Westminster “broken”.
On Wednesday, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove announced plans to target deprivation in low-income areas, predominantly in the north of England
It includes increasing employment and wages in “every area” of the UK by 2030, plans for 20 new urban regeneration projects across the Midlands and northern England, and £5 billion for bus services, walking and cycling.
The West Midlands, Glasgow and Greater Manchester were promised more than £100 million for “innovation accelerators” aiming to replicate the success of Silicon valley, and more regional mayors in England could be created.
However, the Government has been widely criticised for not including any new cash for the plans. All the money has come from funds that were set out in the spending review.
Sacha Lord, co-founder of Parklife festival and Warehouse Project, and night time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, said Westminster is “broken” and does not work any more.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “One thing we have definitely seen in the pandemic – that it has really shone a light on – is the fact that the UK seems to be very, very London-centric, and they seem to get all the money.
“This is not a ‘Manchester versus London’, but it is not right that they get a lot more than us.”
He added: “I think Westminster is broken, it was a vehicle and I don’t think it works any more.
“Gove was up here last week, and it certainly feels as if he’s interested – I just hope it’s not a nodding dog exercise.”
He was speaking before the full release of the White Paper, and after its publication Mr Lord welcomed some of the ambitions, but was still wary.
Mr Lord said some of the proposals were unfunded or simply reannouncements, and that a key challenge is whether the Government are actually capable of delivering them.
He added: “It was also welcome to see a pledge to tackle low pay across the country – something Greater Manchester is already beginning to address in the hospitality industry and other sectors.”
Thom Hetherington, CEO of Holden Media and key figure in the northern hospitality sector, said: “There is very little new money, I can’t get that excited about it because they aren’t pulling rabbits out of a hat, they are shuffling deck chairs, really.”
Mr Hetherington said he agrees more money needs to be raised for social care and housing, but that he was not sure raising National Insurance would ever be the correct thing to do.
He told the PA news agency: “They (the Conservatives) have been in power for 12 years, yet they are acting like they have just discovered these problems, which largely were their making. And then telling us it will take another eight years to sort it out, without any new money?”
The Government has also come under fire for its decision to increase national insurance by 1.25 percentage points in April 2022.
Mr Lord said that it was unfair to rise the prices now, as businesses are still suffering so heavily from the pandemic.
He suggested a delay to the rise, as he believes it will take at least another two years for businesses to be financially stable.
He said: “I think the public perception is that things are back to normal, but they really are not.
“The people I am speaking to have borrowed so much money, its going to take three years for them to get back to pre-pandemic levels financially.
“There are still staff shortages in hospitality because people have left the industry, and I don’t blame those people, but we need to encourage them back.
“We can see inflation and fuel rising, costs are surging, and if you add National Insurance into that it could be a breaking point for them.”
