The North calls for levelling up to be ‘hard-wired' into UK law ahead of major Manchester conference
Northern mayors, council leaders and business representatives are calling on the government to learn lessons from Germany by 'hard-wiring' levelling up into UK law. They want central government to move away from the current competitive bidding systems like the Levelling Up fund awarded last week.
"If regions are drifting apart, it is bad for everyone, including for the growing regions. If a variety of regions flourish, the whole country will prosper." They will argue that closing these gaps will be vital not only to improving outcomes for millions of people throughout the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber, but also to growing the UK economy as a whole.
"Germany shows us what can be done when you hard-wire legal guarantees to tackle inequalities and empower local leaders into the fabric of your country. East Germany has seen long-term support and investment since the fall of communism – and it has worked. Cities in Eastern Germany are now powering ahead of cities here in the North.
"For Levelling Up to be a coherent and effective policy, rather than a mere slogan, it needs to move away from being a competitive bidding process – with the rationale for decisions unclear – to a consistent, long-term approach which directs more funding to the areas which need it most and gives them control over how they best use it."
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