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”

West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 3 February 2023

This fortnight the second round of the Levelling Up Fund has been announced causing a significant reaction. We have yet to see the full results of the inquiry into the Levelling Up policy implementation and what it may say about the process.  The IMF is still not positive about the UK economy; the forecast has … Continue reading “West Midlands Economic Impact Monitor – 3 February 2023”

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

Alice Pugh provides a breakdown of the latest round of Levelling Up funding. Which regions were the big winners, and who lost out this time around? View our analysis of Round One funding. View more of our work on Levelling Up In the second round of levelling up funding, 111 projects were awarded funding, with … Continue reading “Levelling Up: An Analysis of the Distribution of Funding in Round Two”

Digging Digbeth: The Relocation of BBC Midlands and the Seeds of Recovery

Dr James Davies examines the role the Creative Industries can play in helping areas to recover economically, like Digbeth in Birmingham, which continues to grow as a creative hub. This blog post was produced for inclusion in the Birmingham Economic Review for 2022.  The annual Birmingham Economic Review is produced by the University of Birmingham’s … Continue reading “Digging Digbeth: The Relocation of BBC Midlands and the Seeds of Recovery”

Addressing Regional Inequalities

Abigail Taylor discusses a recent project which examines how four city-regions have made progress in reducing regional inequality. This project is associated with our Levelling Up projects and research, you can find out more information here. This is also a collaboration project with The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), you can download … Continue reading “Addressing Regional Inequalities”

Does the Computer say yes to Levelling Up? Will ChatGPT Replace the Policy Wonk?

Rebecca Riley goes head to head with a chatbot to see if it can answer any of the big questions about regional inequality in the UK. ChatGPT is the latest and potentially impressive artificially intelligent chatbot yet. It was released at the beginning of December, and in just five days hit a million users. I narrowly … Continue reading “Does the Computer say yes to Levelling Up? Will ChatGPT Replace the Policy Wonk?”

Political Party Approaches to University R&D and Innovation in the UK

Steve Barwick writes about the approaches of the UK’s two major political parties to University R&D and Innovation. City-REDI / WMREDI, University of Birmingham recently hosted fringe meetings at both the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences in order to gauge and explore the respective political party’s approach to university R&D and innovation, including its role … Continue reading “Political Party Approaches to University R&D and Innovation in the UK”

REDI Updates 3: Lessons from City-REDI / WMREDI Research on Levelling Up

Welcome to REDI-Updates. REDI-Updates aims to get behind the data and translate it into understandable terms. In this edition, WMREDI staff look at the government’s flagship policy – Levelling Up. We look at the challenge of implementing, understanding and measuring levelling up. Rebecca Riley summarises some of the key points to come out of our … Continue reading “REDI Updates 3: Lessons from City-REDI / WMREDI Research on Levelling Up”