Tim Davies-Pugh is CEO of Power to Change.
It’s fair to say the levelling up agenda has had its ups and downs, and maybe it was always going to be this way. It moved from an election-winning slogan to the Johnson Government’s flagship domestic policy agenda, but at its heart there was always a central tension.
Was it a series of quick fixes to keep first-time Conservative voters on side at the next general election? Or a longer-term project to fundamentally rebalance our economy? Or both?
Add into the mix a chaotic period of change at the top of Conservative Party – which brought us three prime ministers in as many months – and it’s easy to see why this agenda has struggled to find its level.
This is borne out in new Opinium polling for Power to Change, the independent trust that strengthens communities through community business.
From those who responded, 66 per cent of people who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election feel levelling up is having no impact, and for Northerners it is most likely that they will say that levelling up is not tackling the key issues in their neighbourhoods.
These are stark findings for those considering the electoral prospects of the Conservative Party at the next general election.
Despite this, the agenda struck a chord, and for good reason. The growth, productivity, and social-outcomes gap between regions is unsustainable. This is equally the case within regions.
And much of the White Paper’s diagnosis for why rang true. It recognised that social capital is central to the formation of strong local economies and too often, this vital strand of thinking takes a back seat in our policymaking discourse.
But I see, day in day out, the incredible way communities come together around issues that matter to them – be it saving the last pub in the village or tackling their high street decline – and then how they can channel this energy into the formation of responsive, accountable community businesses, of which there are 11,000 in England today.
Great examples include the Auctioneers Arms, on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent. Much more than just a pub, the Auctioneers is providing so-called warm bank support for the local community, and runs a café which brings older and younger people together.
Or the Radcliffe Market Hall in Bury; once a struggling council-owned market, today, through community management, it has been transformed. It is now bustling day and night which, in turn, drives footfall to other town centre businesses.
At their best, community businesses generate a virtuous cycle of social and economic renewal, these are far more than just philanthropic nice-to-haves.
With that in mind, Power to Change undertook research to assess the progress government has made on elements of their agenda with the potential to support this type of community-led change: levelling up funding, devolution and community power, high streets and pride in place, and community ownership.
Progress in each area has been mixed.
We have seen significant headway on high street policy, with many of the measures introduced recently recognising that communities will need to play a bigger role in the future of our town centres which, while there are no quick fixes to high street decline, is to be welcomed.
On levelling up funding, we have found the picture is bleaker. There is lots still to be done to meet Government’s own commitment to reform funding and ensure it reaches the places that need it most, including a rather easy win in reducing barriers to community involvement in funding bids.
In short, we need to end “a begging bowl culture” – to borrow a phrase from Andy Street – which has characterised the approach to funding thus far.
Regional devolution is progressing at pace, but more work is needed to bring power to communities.
We see the establishment of a dedicated fund for community ownership as a positive step, and the changes the Government has made, such as introducing early-stage support and flexing match funding, are welcome.
But to make this really have the impact it could achieve we must go further – and there is still time to make progress.
The Labour Party has made some of the early running on the “double devolution” agenda. But Government can signal its own intent by bringing forward the neighbourhood governance review, promised in the Levelling Up White Paper.
Indeed, it should also look again at the concept of Community Covenants (an idea advocated by those in and around the New Social Covenant Unit) which could greatly help fill the neighbourhood governance gap in places without existing institutions to support them.
Ministers can also advance on community ownership. It should build on its track record of establishing the Community Ownership Fund by bringing forward its Community Spaces and Relationships Strategy.
Acting on this now should be a way of mainstreaming the commitment to social capital and social infrastructure which was central to the white paper; Ideas from the Cares Family and Power to Change, the British Academy, the Bennett Institute, and the Institute for Community Studies could form the backbone of such a strategy.
Michael Gove, in an speech to Onward in February, reaffirmed a central principle of levelling up:
“It looks to empower civil society: self-organising groups who can both solve local problems and thicken social capital, by giving a sense of purpose, control and achievement to communities which have been overlooked and undervalued in the past.”
Let’s not waste any more time. Let’s make this principle a reality.
Tim Davies-Pugh is CEO of Power to Change.
It’s fair to say the levelling up agenda has had its ups and downs, and maybe it was always going to be this way. It moved from an election-winning slogan to the Johnson Government’s flagship domestic policy agenda, but at its heart there was always a central tension.
Was it a series of quick fixes to keep first-time Conservative voters on side at the next general election? Or a longer-term project to fundamentally rebalance our economy? Or both?
Add into the mix a chaotic period of change at the top of Conservative Party – which brought us three prime ministers in as many months – and it’s easy to see why this agenda has struggled to find its level.
This is borne out in new Opinium polling for Power to Change, the independent trust that strengthens communities through community business.
From those who responded, 66 per cent of people who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election feel levelling up is having no impact, and for Northerners it is most likely that they will say that levelling up is not tackling the key issues in their neighbourhoods.
These are stark findings for those considering the electoral prospects of the Conservative Party at the next general election.
Despite this, the agenda struck a chord, and for good reason. The growth, productivity, and social-outcomes gap between regions is unsustainable. This is equally the case within regions.
And much of the White Paper’s diagnosis for why rang true. It recognised that social capital is central to the formation of strong local economies and too often, this vital strand of thinking takes a back seat in our policymaking discourse.
But I see, day in day out, the incredible way communities come together around issues that matter to them – be it saving the last pub in the village or tackling their high street decline – and then how they can channel this energy into the formation of responsive, accountable community businesses, of which there are 11,000 in England today.
Great examples include the Auctioneers Arms, on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent. Much more than just a pub, the Auctioneers is providing so-called warm bank support for the local community, and runs a café which brings older and younger people together.
Or the Radcliffe Market Hall in Bury; once a struggling council-owned market, today, through community management, it has been transformed. It is now bustling day and night which, in turn, drives footfall to other town centre businesses.
At their best, community businesses generate a virtuous cycle of social and economic renewal, these are far more than just philanthropic nice-to-haves.
With that in mind, Power to Change undertook research to assess the progress government has made on elements of their agenda with the potential to support this type of community-led change: levelling up funding, devolution and community power, high streets and pride in place, and community ownership.
Progress in each area has been mixed.
We have seen significant headway on high street policy, with many of the measures introduced recently recognising that communities will need to play a bigger role in the future of our town centres which, while there are no quick fixes to high street decline, is to be welcomed.
On levelling up funding, we have found the picture is bleaker. There is lots still to be done to meet Government’s own commitment to reform funding and ensure it reaches the places that need it most, including a rather easy win in reducing barriers to community involvement in funding bids.
In short, we need to end “a begging bowl culture” – to borrow a phrase from Andy Street – which has characterised the approach to funding thus far.
Regional devolution is progressing at pace, but more work is needed to bring power to communities.
We see the establishment of a dedicated fund for community ownership as a positive step, and the changes the Government has made, such as introducing early-stage support and flexing match funding, are welcome.
But to make this really have the impact it could achieve we must go further – and there is still time to make progress.
The Labour Party has made some of the early running on the “double devolution” agenda. But Government can signal its own intent by bringing forward the neighbourhood governance review, promised in the Levelling Up White Paper.
Indeed, it should also look again at the concept of Community Covenants (an idea advocated by those in and around the New Social Covenant Unit) which could greatly help fill the neighbourhood governance gap in places without existing institutions to support them.
Ministers can also advance on community ownership. It should build on its track record of establishing the Community Ownership Fund by bringing forward its Community Spaces and Relationships Strategy.
Acting on this now should be a way of mainstreaming the commitment to social capital and social infrastructure which was central to the white paper; Ideas from the Cares Family and Power to Change, the British Academy, the Bennett Institute, and the Institute for Community Studies could form the backbone of such a strategy.
Michael Gove, in an speech to Onward in February, reaffirmed a central principle of levelling up:
“It looks to empower civil society: self-organising groups who can both solve local problems and thicken social capital, by giving a sense of purpose, control and achievement to communities which have been overlooked and undervalued in the past.”
Let’s not waste any more time. Let’s make this principle a reality.