Boost cities to level up UK, think tank says
27/06/2022 Levelling up needs billions of pounds worth of investment in cities – a level of investment not currently being considered by policy makers, think tanks say. |
Social housing providers still need more support to tackle planning delay
27/06/2022 Jonathan Pearson warns the country’s 'slow and cumbersome' planning process is currently preventing local authorities from adequately responding to housing need. |
Councils urged to share post-pandemic cultural activities
24/06/2022 The LGA is calling for councils and local partners to share examples of their work in using culture to support the post-pandemic recovery and levelling up. |
Government ‘gambling’ with levelling up funding
08/06/2022 Levelling up should be delivered with ‘measurable targets’, council leaders say as MPs raise questions over the funding of the Government’s flagship agenda. |
Improve town centres and connectivity to ‘level up’, says think tank
07/06/2022 Levelling up should focus on improving town centres and connectivity, and ensuring there is a high quality of low skilled jobs available, think tank says. |
MPs call for levelling up funding ‘transparency’
27/05/2022 MPs have called for ‘more information and more transparency’ when it comes to levelling up grants and funding pots. |
The need for Green Belt reform
20/05/2022 With only four references to the Green Belt in the Levelling Up White Paper, Karen Charles asks if a change to the Green Belt is inevitable? |
Slow Gigabit broadband roll-out ‘stumbling block’ for levelling up
19/05/2022 Levelling up likely to hit a ‘stumbling block’ due to lack of awareness, funding and focussed roles when it comes to Gigabit broadband roll-out, study says. |
Combined authority signs £4bn agreement with Legal & General
18/05/2022 WMCA and L&G have today signed a partnership agreement with L&G committing to invest £4bn in regeneration, housing and levelling up across the West Midlands. |
Green space provision should be central to levelling up, charity says
18/05/2022 The amount of green space per person is lower in areas that the Government is targeting as part of the levelling up agenda than it is elsewhere, study reveals. |
EXCLUSIVE: Government 'risks battle' on moving districts' functions without consent
17/05/2022 Districts will push to change the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to ensure their functions cannot move to new combined county authorities (CCAs) without their consent, The MJ understands. |
Centre has 'poor understanding' of what works on local growth, says NAO expert
16/05/2022 A large proportion of government spending is ‘not robustly evaluated’ and there is poor understanding by the centre about which approaches to local economic growth work best, says an expert from the National Audit Office. |
Levelling Up Bill to ‘empower local people’ published
12/05/2022 The Government has published the levelling up Bill which promises to transform struggling towns and support local leaders have more control of regeneration. |
Index to help drive levelling up published
11/05/2022 The planning and development consultancy Lichfields has created an index to help local authority areas capitalise on the levelling up agenda. |
Levelling up means making ‘sad Londoners happier’
11/05/2022 The Government’s levelling up agenda should focus more on affluent local authority areas in London that have low levels of wellbeing, think tank says. |
Levelling up communities will not be possible without greater support for local authorities
09/05/2022 Gillian Charlesworth warns that unless local authorities are equipped with a clear strategic direction and sufficient resources, levelling up the country is unlikely to become reality. |
A deep dive into levelling up
28/04/2022 A new research programme is developing a prototype for levelling up rooted in the local through a series of focused studies of communities. Adam Hawksbee reports from the first visits to Oldham and Walsall. |
UK comes under pressure to adopt rights charter
26/04/2022 Local leaders will continue to be ‘heavily constrained’ until the UK follows through on its promise to guarantee the rights of local government in law, a sector expert has warned. |
Local authorities’ pivotal role in levelling up through collaborative, value-led procurement
20/04/2022 Exploring the link between true levelling up and procurement, Elaine Elkington addresses how and why local authorities and public sector organisations play a key role in unlocking equity for ‘left behind’ areas. |
Manufacturers call for more local control of levelling up funds
19/04/2022 Nearly a quarter of manufacturers say that regional mayors and local councillors should be given more responsibility for driving the levelling up agenda. |
Cost of living crisis risks leaving levelling up ‘dead on arrival’
07/04/2022 The Government’s levelling up agenda could be undermined by a deepening North-South divide exacerbated by the cost of living crisis, a think tank has warned. |
Levelling up plans will fail, IfG report claims
31/03/2022 The Government’s plans for levelling up will not cut regional inequality, a report from the influential Institute for Government (IfG) has claimed. |
South East needs 'unified' approach to create a devolution framework
22/03/2022 Government must rethink the assumption that directing investment away from an ‘overheated’ South East will ‘cool’ the region and ‘heat’ the rest of the country, a report has warned today. |
Plans to level up Blackpool are unveiled
18/03/2022 Blackpool will receive a beefed-up inspection regime to tackle rogue landlords and a King’s Cross style regeneration programme under the Government's levelling up plans. |
Homes England recommits to joint venture to deliver 6,600 houses
17/03/2022 Homes England has recommitted to a joint venture that will deliver 6,600 homes and 2 million sq ft of innovation and commercial space over the next 10 years. |
Talks held on East Midlands combined authority
17/03/2022 Proposals for an East Midlands combined authority covering Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire could be put forward to the Government as part of county deal negotiations. |
Councillors complain of lack of powers
07/03/2022 More than two out of three (68%) councillors in England feel they lack sufficient powers to represent the needs of their communities, a survey today by the Electoral Reform Society campaign group has found. |
New commission launched to show value of cultural services
07/03/2022 A new commission to promote the role of arts and culture in England's recovery from the pandemic has been launched by the Local Government Association (LGA). |
Funding allocated to develop derelict brownfield sites
25/02/2022 Three regions will share £30m funding to regenerate brownfield sites and create 2,500 new homes, the Government has announced. |
Over 100 places to receive targeted arts funding
24/02/2022 Over 100 places that have been previously overlooked or neglected will be prioritised for arts funding. |
BBC’s MasterChef to relocate to Birmingham
21/02/2022 The BBC’s hit show MasterChef is to relocate to Birmingham as part of the levelling up agenda, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency has announced. |
Smoking 'single largest driver' of health inequalities
09/02/2022 A third of smoking households in England are living in poverty with rates highest in the North, a new study has revealed. |
National approach to levelling up is 'ineffective' warns study
01/02/2022 Policies to address regional inequalities should be tailored to individual communities’ needs, according to the results of a new study. |
Move to improve outcomes in 55 education investment areas
01/02/2022 Education investment areas will be set in areas of the country where school outcomes are the weakest as part of the Government's levelling up agenda. |
Wolverhampton and Sheffield will be first to benefit from levelling up plans
31/01/2022 The Government has announced Wolverhampton and Sheffield will be the first two places to benefit from its new regeneration programme. |
Mind the gap between levelling up ‘rhetoric and reality’, think tank warns
17/01/2022 Central Government policies have undermined the ‘levelling up’ agenda and left the UK more regionally divided than ever, a new study says. |
Bradford has most 'levelling up' potential, Index finds
17/01/2022 New research has revealed the towns and cities in England that could make the best use of the Government’s levelling up funding. |
Lancashire council chiefs to cooperate on County Deal
13/01/2022 Local authority leaders across Greater Lancashire have agreed to work together to deliver a new deal across a range of areas including the economy. |
I'm dreaming of a White (Paper) Christmas.
16/12/2021 Tim Pope, local government expert at PA Consulting, explains what he hopes to see in the White Paper on levelling up |
‘Levelling up’ agenda undermined by pandemic response
14/12/2021 Incomes in London and the south-east have increased six times faster than in ‘red wall’ regions since the general election, new research reveals. |
Leaked White Paper reveals reorganisation master plan
09/12/2021 A leaked version of the Levelling Up White Paper has revealed plans to scrap two-tier local government in England. |
Powers warning ahead of new deals
07/12/2021 A new report today warns areas reluctant to accept directly-elected leaders in the next wave of devolution deals may be offered ‘fewer powers and flexibilities’. |
Campaigners call for new law to empower communities
01/12/2021 Campaigners have called for a new Community Power Act to give communities a legal right to self-determination. |
Gap between Government’s rhetoric and reality threatens levelling up
25/11/2021 A lack of funding and a disconnect between the Government’s rhetoric and reality threatens the ability of local areas to ‘level up’, a new study says. |
Cities should be central to ‘levelling up’ agenda, think tank says
18/11/2021 The Government should focus on investing in cities outside of London rather than spreading investment too thinly across small towns, think tank recommends. |
20 councils urge Gove to ‘level up’ social capital
05/11/2021 The Government has been urged to ‘level up’ social capital in order to ensure community resilience, leaders from 20 councils have said. |
Commission calls for 'radical rethink' on calculating housing demand
05/11/2021 Up to 140,000 homes will be needed every year in areas at most in need of levelling up, according to the findings of the Building Back Britain Commission. |
Report calls for new deal to help East London level up
03/11/2021 Local London should be given a subregional growth deal to help eastern boroughs ‘level up’ and deliver their full potential, a report has argued today. |
Report highlights 52 areas most at risk of far right extremism
01/11/2021 A new report has identified 52 local communities are at risk of increased far right activity due to the pandemic. |
‘Levelling up’ decisions should be made locally, commission says
28/10/2021 Two-thirds of people living in areas prioritised for levelling up funding want decisions on spending in their communities made locally and not by Whitehall, according to a new study. |
The Brownfield Land Release Fund
21/10/2021 To what extent does this early initiative of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities deliver on the ‘levelling up’ agenda? Lawrence Turner reports. |
What do we want to see from the Levelling Up White Paper?
15/10/2021 Zo Hoida discusses recent claims from the National Infrastructure Commission that the government’s ‘levelling up’ plan will fail. |
‘Shameful inequities’ driving the young out of the countryside
13/10/2021 Young people are abandoning rural communities due to a lack of public transport and affordable housing despite the Government’s much-vaunted ‘levelling up’ agenda, a countryside charity has warned. |
Counties in council tax warning
07/10/2021 County leaders have warned council tax bills would have to rise by almost a quarter over three years to get close to eliminating their deficit. |
Tory MPs make case for 'double devolution'
04/10/2021 New agreements that ensure power is shared between councils and local communities would help really level up the country, a new report has argued today. |
Report outlines six principles to underpin the levelling up White Paper
04/10/2021 Councils must be at the heart of the Government’s levelling up agenda, a new report has argued today. |
Social care system is 'levelling down' analysis warns
30/09/2021 The quality of social care is worse in the most deprived areas undermining the Government's levelling up agenda, new analysis has revealed. |
Government advisers press for funding overhaul
22/09/2021 The body charged with advising ministers on infrastructure has said competitive funding pots should be replaced. |
Rural communities 'overlooked' in levelling-up funding, report finds
04/08/2021 The allocation of levelling up funding is 'overlooking' rural communities, a report has claimed today. |
Empowering county councils ‘game-changer’ for levelling-up
22/07/2021 County leaders have written to the Prime Minister welcoming his commitment to empower county authorities and urging him to follow through on what they describe as a ‘game-changer’ for levelling-up. |
Six ‘must haves’ for Boris’ levelling up vision
21/07/2021 Nigel Wilcock offers six important points to add to the levelling up debate. |
High street regeneration to be key part of PM's levelling up agenda
12/07/2021 The Prime Minister will set out his 'levelling up' plans later this week, including unveiling a new High Streets Strategy. |
20 years of economic interventions have failed to help poorest communities, report warns
07/07/2021 The last 20 years of local economic interventions have consistently failed to address the inequalities across the UK’s most deprived communities, a new report has warned today. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.