It's become one of the key political slogans- levelling up - and the Government is to announce more details of its plans to bridge the gap between richer and poorer areas today (Wednesday, February 2).
The idea is to transform the UK by shifting government focus and resources to Britain’s 'forgotten communities throughout 2020s' to boost housing, transport, education, skills and access to the internet.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will unveil the government’s flagship Levelling Up White Paper after Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to break the link between “geography and destiny”..
Among the 'missions', which will be enshrined in law, are improving public transport and ensuring access to 5G broadband.
Regions could also be given more power in a “devolution revolution” with the offer of a London-style deal for any area of England that wants one.
In all, the White Paper includes 12 national “missions” to be achieved by 2030 to be enshrined in a a flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
The 12 Missions
- By 2030, pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.
- By 2030, domestic public investment in Research & Development outside the Greater South East will increase by at least 40% and at least one third over the Spending Review period, with that additional government funding seeking to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth.
- By 2030, local public transport connectivity across the country will be significantly closer to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing.
- By 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.
- By 2030, the number of primary school children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will have significantly increased. In England, this will mean 90% of children will achieve the expected standard, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by over a third.
- By 2030, the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.
- By 2030, the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest will have narrowed, and by 2035 HLE will rise by 5 years.
- By 2030, well-being will have improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.
- By 2030, pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.
- By 2030, renters will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas; and the government’s ambition is for the number of non-decent rented homes to have fallen by 50%, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.
- By 2030, homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have fallen, focused on the worst-affected areas.
- By 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.
Other policies include a new National Youth Guarantee will be launched so that by 2025 every young person in England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home, and opportunities to volunteer.
The government will also give local authorities the power to require landlords of empty shops to fill them if they have been left vacant for too long.
While Police officers will also gain the power to deal with noise nuisance.
People in parts of UK have been 'overlooked' says Gove
People in the North and Midlands have been “overlooked and undervalued for years” by politicians, Michael Gove has said.
Speaking on Sky News, the Levelling Up Secretary said: “The Brexit referendum was a wake-up call.
“As well as a clear commandment to leave the European Union it was also a way of saying to people in SW1, people like me, ‘look, it’s vital that you change the economic model of this country. It’s all very well if people are in London and the Southeast in financial services and others do well, we don’t begrudge that. But you’ve got to listen to us’.”
Mr Gove said mistakes had been made by “parties of both colours” and that “one of the things in the past is there have been sincere and committed attempts by politicians left and right to deal with this”.
“But nothing as comprehensive or as long-term as the plan that we’re setting out today,” he said.
And Mr Gove has again raised the prospect of the House of Lords moving out of London as an example of levelling up.
He told Times Radio: “We’ve got our friends in the House of Lords who will have to move out of their current building, at the moment, because of the renovation of the Palace of Westminster.
“I think it’d be a really good thing if the House of Lords were to meet for at least part of the time in Glasgow or in York. I think it would do us all good.”
What the Prime Minister says
Mr Johnson said it was the “most comprehensive, ambitious plan” of its kind that the country had ever seen.
“From day one, the defining mission of this Government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities,” he said.
“The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight, but this White Paper is the next crucial step.”
Reaction
For Labour, shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said the plan fell far short of what the country needed.
“Ministers have had two-and-a-half years to get this right and all we been given is more slogans and strategies, with few new ideas,” she said.
“Boris Johnson’s answer to our communities calling for change is to shuffle the deckchairs – new government structures, recycled pots of money and a small refund on the money this Government have taken from us.
“This is not what we were promised. We deserve far more ambition this.”
Tracy Brabin, the Labour mayor of West Yorkshire, has said there is “lots to be pleased about” in Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove’s plan for the UK but said “the devil is going to be in the detail”.
She told BBC’s Today programme: “It’s like a love letter to levelling up, isn’t it?
“Lots of ambition, lots of hope, but unless you actually have the money and the resources, you are going to be struggling.”
She went on to say: “I think we were collateral damage, actually, between a fight between Number 10 and Number 11.
“Boris Johnson likes to put his finger on a map and say ‘let’s do that, I want a Crossrail of the north ‘ and the Treasury saying ‘well, you’re not having it’.
“So, this is the tension and it can’t just be down to Michael Gove. Every single department in Government must get on the levelling-up agenda.
“It has to be a Government-wide campaign.”
