A new report from think tank Localis is urging incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham to draw on lessons from decades of local growth policy as he pursues his vision of ‘Manchesterism’ across England.
The report, Back to the future? lessons we can learn in our quest for local economic growth, was authored by Localis visiting fellow David Godfrey and examines attempts by governments from Thatcher to Starmer to drive local economic growth.
The study identifies three central themes: getting the basics right, planning strategically and spatially, and prioritising delivery.
On the first, the report calls for stronger local business relationships and recognises devolved mayors and leaders as the accountable face of their area, with real decision-making powers.
It also backs spatial development strategies to give developers investment certainty, and calls for planning tools such as Development Corporations to unlock infrastructure funding and build private sector confidence, while maintaining design quality and energy efficiency.
What they said
David Godfrey said governments of all colours have created their own ‘agents of growth,’ adding that with mayoral devolution now the dominant model, understanding past practice could prove invaluable.
Localis chief executive, Jonathan Werran, added: ‘With a new team in Number 10 and a new Number 10 of the North to look forward to, Andy Burnham is poised like a new actor reprising the role of Van Helsing to drive a stake in the vampiric issue that has beset every government since the war: regional economic inequality and a productivity gap that stubbornly refuses to narrow.’
