Public spending in the North East has fallen behind the England average despite the Government’s flagship “levelling up” policy, a think tank has said.
As the candidates for the Conservative leadership are being questioned on their commitment to the levelling up agenda, think tank IPPR North said that recent years have been more “business as usual”. That came after the organisation’s analysis of public spending showed that per-person public spending was higher in real terms in northern England in 2019 than the England average, but had fallen behind by 2021.
Although public spending has increased in every region of England, the think tank said its research show the rise in spending over the last three years was slowest in the North East at 16%. London saw the highest total per-person public spending and the highest increase, up 25% to £19,231.
