London Wins Again – The Debacle of the UK’s High-speed Rail ‘strategy’ 

Donald Houston and Rebecca Riley discuss the scrapping of HS2 and the significant economic impact on the North of the UK. This blog was originally written for the Birmingham Business School Blog. A branding failure HS2 has always suffered from a branding failure. HS2 sounds rather anodyne and the ‘2’ reminds those north of London … Continue reading “London Wins Again – The Debacle of the UK’s High-speed Rail ‘strategy’ ”

The Impacts of Government R&D Funding in the UK: Key Questions for Improving Investment Allocations

Professor Simon Collinson was recently quoted in a House of Commons briefing on Research and Development (R&D) Funding policy. Here, he provides further detail on the issues involved with using Government R&D investments as a tool to support balanced economic growth.   Promoting R&D and innovation The UKRI, as the main UK funding agency responsible for promoting … Continue reading “The Impacts of Government R&D Funding in the UK: Key Questions for Improving Investment Allocations”

WMREDI Policy Briefing: Pride In Place

Pride in place is one of four overarching objectives in the Levelling Up White Paper as well as the least detailed of its twelve missions. This policy briefing by Rebecca Riley and Des McNulty explores this objective from the perspective of the role universities could play. The underlying argument of the pride in place mission … Continue reading “WMREDI Policy Briefing: Pride In Place”

What is Next for Levelling Up?

Rebecca Riley recently appeared on a panel session hosted by The Policy Institute at Kings College London. In this blog, she discusses how Levelling Up should be about giving people the capacity, confidence, and courage to drive change. This article was first posted on the UK in a Changing Europe blog. It isn’t a new … Continue reading “What is Next for Levelling Up?”

The Role of Universities in ‘Levelling Up’ the Region Post-Pandemic

John Goddard discusses the challenges of ‘levelling up’ within the higher education sector and how they can play a leading role going forward, post-pandemic. The challenges of ‘levelling-up’ cities and regions of the country will not go away. Universities can and do play a leading role as ‘anchor institutions’ throughout the country with a huge … Continue reading “The Role of Universities in ‘Levelling Up’ the Region Post-Pandemic”

“I Blame the Green Book”- Why has Guidance Become the Scape Goat of Public Funding Decisions like Levelling Up?

Rebecca Riley outlines some of the misconceptions around the use of the Green Book. As part of the Y-PERN conference held recently, I had a slot on a session about the Green Book, partly because I chair the Green Book User Network Steering Group, but also because City-REDI does a lot of work helping partners … Continue reading ““I Blame the Green Book”- Why has Guidance Become the Scape Goat of Public Funding Decisions like Levelling Up?”

West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 3 March 2023

This week the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission announced a new agreement – the Windsor Framework – to change the way the Northern Ireland Protocol operates, including by removing checks on goods from Great Britain remaining in Northern Ireland. Inflation in the Euro area is decelerating. Concerns about the impacts of … Continue reading “West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 3 March 2023”

The Devil and the Detail: The Two Things Hiding Behind the UK Levelling Up Fund

Whilst the Levelling Up Fund provides much-needed support for local regions, Hannes Read discusses two issues with the programme. The patchwork delivery of funding and a lack of focus on how the funds are spent. The continued patchwork approach to regional economic development is the devil behind the Levelling Up Fund. Despite the roots of … Continue reading “The Devil and the Detail: The Two Things Hiding Behind the UK Levelling Up Fund”

Levelling Up So Far: Has Funding Gone to Areas Most in Need?

Alice Pugh summarises where Levelling Up funding has been spent so far, across both rounds of funding. In total across both rounds of the Levelling Up fund, £3.9bn has funded 216 projects. The aim is to understand whether funding was spent in the areas most in need of levelling up. Regional Analysis Across both funding … Continue reading “Levelling Up So Far: Has Funding Gone to Areas Most in Need?”

Levelling Up: An Analysis of the Distribution of Funding in Round One

Alice Pugh provides a breakdown of the first round of Levelling Up funding. Which regions were the big winners, and who lost out in the first round? View a blog summarising round two funding. View more of our work on Levelling Up In Levelling Up (LUP) round one, 105 projects were funded, at a total … Continue reading “Levelling Up: An Analysis of the Distribution of Funding in Round One”