Two years ago this week, Michael Gove unveiled plans for an improbable-sounding “Medici model” to rejuvenate Britain’s cities and towns. Among other pledges, the government’s levelling up white paper promised to improve public services, restore a sense of local pride and belonging, and empower local leaders. An “array of interventions”, it was claimed, would create a virtuous cluster effect, echoing the formula of success in Italian city-states during the Renaissance.
Back in the real world, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities has instead presided over what is now an existential funding crisis in local government. Many councils are barely able to carry out their statutory and growing responsibilities in adult and child social care, let alone engage in the kind of “discretionary” spending that enhances the life of their communities. Last week, facing a rebellion by Conservative MPs fearful of further cuts in an election year, Mr Gove made an extra £600m available to local authorities. Useful but nowhere near enough. Figures shared by the Institute for Government indicate that £7bn in extra cash would be required merely to return to the pre-austerity funding levels of 2010.
