By Abigail Taylor, Research Fellow & Johannes Read, Policy and Data Analyst, City-REDI, Birmingham Business School
The phrase ‘levelling up’ – which refers to tackling inequality between places – has been cast aside in the 2024 election campaign. There has been relatively little detailed discussion about addressing regional inequalities by any of the main parties. However, issues of addressing regional inequalities are as important as ever.
The term ‘levelling up’ rose to prominence in the Conservative Party manifesto for the 2019 General election when the Party committed to “level up every part of the United Kingdom”. The 2019 Labour manifesto promised greater government leadership in health, social care, net zero, council housing and nationalisation of key industries.
In February 2022 Boris Johnson’s government published a Levelling Up White Paper designed to “give people the same opportunities in all parts of the UK”. This set out 12 missions across the UK ranging from improving living standards, to spreading educational opportunities, to boosting pride in place. The Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government was renamed as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Whilst the Levelling Up White Paper was important in laying out the extent of challenges and proposed solutions for achieving desired goals, progress with levelling up has been slow. A 2024 report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies argues that “progress towards these levelling up missions has been glacial – and, on many metrics, gaps have widened since 2019 while the country as a whole has gone into reverse.” Furthermore, Whitehall has been criticised for taking a siloed approach.
To what extent do the Conservative and Labour manifestos focus on addressing regional inequalities?
The 2024 election is notable for its lack of discussion around levelling up compared to five years ago. This time around, the two largest parties have rarely prioritised addressing the regional and social inequalities that are deep set across the UK.
‘Levelling up’ is mentioned only eight times in the 80-page Conservative Party manifesto, primarily in relation to describing investment during the previous government rather than new plans. Where future priorities are outlined, they mostly involve extending existing policies (such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, creating more Freeports and Business Rates Retention zones, and continuing to back Investment Zones) rather than outlining innovative new approaches.
Instead, the manifesto’s economic policies tend towards a reduction in personal taxes. Research from the Resolution Foundation aggregates the proposed cuts to National Insurance and changes to welfare to show that the poorest households would lose £250 per year under the Conservative Party’s proposals.
The Labour Party has indicated a desire to leave the ‘levelling up’ phrase behind. In amongst manifesto pledges to kickstart economic growth, in relation to addressing inequalities, a National Wealth Fund, devolution of power across England, and a New Deal for Working People are pledges that could lead to more job security. There may be some opportunities for strategic working to address inequalities. The devil here, in addressing inequalities, is in the detail. The Labour Party has committed to deepening devolution settlements for existing Combined Authorities and widening devolution to more areas to support towns and cities to “pursue growth, create jobs and improve living standards”.
Labour aims to focus policy on long-term missions. This could help keep successive governments’ attempts to address inequalities on track particularly given the long history of policy churn in the UK. However, the same could also be said of the missions in the Levelling Up White Paper. The UK stands out in comparison to European countries such as Germany where policy continuity over 30 years has helped reduce inequalities between East and West Germany.
What should be done?
Research by City-REDI in conjunction with CIPFA indicates that actions speak louder than words: addressing regional inequalities cannot be achieved by simply renaming a department or introducing a short-term funding pot.
Factors that can address inequalities include long-term adequate and responsive funding, clear strategy and vision, local knowledge, shared political will and partnerships, and strong monitoring and evaluation systems.
There needs to be a sustained commitment to long-term funding and decentralised power and decision making. Under a new government there is a window of opportunity to develop devolution in a meaningful way and prioritise place-based policies built upon strong relationships between central and local government. Policymakers need to invest in growing capacity in local institutions and structures and developing strong monitoring and evaluation structures to be able to successfully devolve new powers to enable local areas to drive local growth and resilience.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Birmingham.