Levelling up plan
Discussion
I see today the government have released their level up plan that will “transform the U.K.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unve...
It’s a big call from number 10, will it work?
Reading it, it all sounds great although predictably it’s receiving criticism from different commentators online and in the media.
Obviously it’s easy to say that the conservatives have been in power for x many years, so if there’s problems with inequality they should bear much of the blame but I expect many of the issues are deeper than that. Plus regardless of how it’s happened, changes need to be made regardless of ‘fault’ or the causes.
Does anyone live somewhere that they feel will benefit from levelling up?what kinds of things do you think are needed and will this plan help?
Obviously the government (or any government) should try to improve things for people in disadvantaged, or left behind areas but is this often inevitable as the people who can, in poorer areas (in any country) tend to move to where the opportunities they want are and regardless of whatever levelling up happens there will always be more opportunity for most in bigger cities or places with more jobs and wealth.
There’s 12 points in the plan and it seems that the government think by 2030 they can be judged by the success of it?
Like with Boris’s pre covid budget and build back better scheme, jet zero initiative, etc, etc etc I find myself encouraged with the plan but will it all end up as another example of his empty rhetoric?
Some of it looks expensive like the transport infrastructure plans but some is cheap and just involves some thought and innovative ways of thinking. For example the restoring local pride section looks pretty good to me and could be done quite easily and I think will make a big difference.
Also the empowering local leaders is another good idea imho making people feel they have more representation like the majors in London Sheffield and Manchester etc,
What do people think?
My initial thoughts are that it looks fantastic but in full will be eye wateringly expensive which at the moment isn’t all that realistic. Hopefully though some of it can be achieved.
I also feel a bit like the government have just shoved this out suddenly as pressure on Boris is mounting and it’s perhaps more about changing the narrative than a genuine serious attempt to do anything.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unve...
It’s a big call from number 10, will it work?
Reading it, it all sounds great although predictably it’s receiving criticism from different commentators online and in the media.
Obviously it’s easy to say that the conservatives have been in power for x many years, so if there’s problems with inequality they should bear much of the blame but I expect many of the issues are deeper than that. Plus regardless of how it’s happened, changes need to be made regardless of ‘fault’ or the causes.
Does anyone live somewhere that they feel will benefit from levelling up?what kinds of things do you think are needed and will this plan help?
Obviously the government (or any government) should try to improve things for people in disadvantaged, or left behind areas but is this often inevitable as the people who can, in poorer areas (in any country) tend to move to where the opportunities they want are and regardless of whatever levelling up happens there will always be more opportunity for most in bigger cities or places with more jobs and wealth.
There’s 12 points in the plan and it seems that the government think by 2030 they can be judged by the success of it?
Like with Boris’s pre covid budget and build back better scheme, jet zero initiative, etc, etc etc I find myself encouraged with the plan but will it all end up as another example of his empty rhetoric?
Some of it looks expensive like the transport infrastructure plans but some is cheap and just involves some thought and innovative ways of thinking. For example the restoring local pride section looks pretty good to me and could be done quite easily and I think will make a big difference.
Also the empowering local leaders is another good idea imho making people feel they have more representation like the majors in London Sheffield and Manchester etc,
What do people think?
My initial thoughts are that it looks fantastic but in full will be eye wateringly expensive which at the moment isn’t all that realistic. Hopefully though some of it can be achieved.
I also feel a bit like the government have just shoved this out suddenly as pressure on Boris is mounting and it’s perhaps more about changing the narrative than a genuine serious attempt to do anything.
My view is that it's long overdue, good and achievable. Also necessary.
Over the past 20 years or so, I've done work for around 150 local authorities all over the UK, providing on-the-ground initiatives that often require the employment of local people. The projects themselves venturing deep into local communities. If you are a comfortable middle-class inhabitant of the south east and seldom venture beyond your bubble, it is impossible to recognise or visualise just how wide the disparity is in the UK. Equally, if the opposite applies your perception is that a better life and better opportunities are unobtainable so you either grow in resentment or hunker down and endure the hand you've been dealt.
In a country so small yet so wealthy, the gap is truly shocking.
Whether it works will come down to implementation and here exists the biggest challenge because implementation falls to local authorities, the qualities, resources and commitment of which is found to be highly variable.
It's a shame that the Conservatives are fighting this whole partygate thing because this should be a big thing to hang a big hat on - a Labour type initiative with Conservative practicality, something that the Conservatives have become quite adept in delivering over the years.
Over the past 20 years or so, I've done work for around 150 local authorities all over the UK, providing on-the-ground initiatives that often require the employment of local people. The projects themselves venturing deep into local communities. If you are a comfortable middle-class inhabitant of the south east and seldom venture beyond your bubble, it is impossible to recognise or visualise just how wide the disparity is in the UK. Equally, if the opposite applies your perception is that a better life and better opportunities are unobtainable so you either grow in resentment or hunker down and endure the hand you've been dealt.
In a country so small yet so wealthy, the gap is truly shocking.
Whether it works will come down to implementation and here exists the biggest challenge because implementation falls to local authorities, the qualities, resources and commitment of which is found to be highly variable.
It's a shame that the Conservatives are fighting this whole partygate thing because this should be a big thing to hang a big hat on - a Labour type initiative with Conservative practicality, something that the Conservatives have become quite adept in delivering over the years.
Some of the detail and a lot of the numbers seem (all too sadly) somewhat 'lite'.
So, what will be people actually be asked to judge - remains vague and what money is mentioned (for example to do with Space) are less than drops in the ocean.
Leveling the country up requires bold support for industry and entrepreneurial efforts, not just Gov rhetoric which sounded good during hustings.
So, what will be people actually be asked to judge - remains vague and what money is mentioned (for example to do with Space) are less than drops in the ocean.
Leveling the country up requires bold support for industry and entrepreneurial efforts, not just Gov rhetoric which sounded good during hustings.
Living in the north east I think this policy is well over due, and indeed it was the main policy for me in the conservative manifesto and as far as I am concerned they will stand or fall by how successful it will be.
The 12 missions look challenging and having been involved in strategic change at a city level my feeling is it will take far longer than 8 years to accomplish, but we should see some emerging improvements at that point.
The media should be excited and supportive of this but I noticed that Peston had a problem with it, namely how long it would take - he obviously has no idea of strategic change of this scale.
Implementation is of course the key, and I wonder how Labour will support it?
Will they just moan and complain or will they act as a critical friend but support the policy?
Ambitious and challenging, I sincerely hope it works and actually makes a difference.
The 12 missions look challenging and having been involved in strategic change at a city level my feeling is it will take far longer than 8 years to accomplish, but we should see some emerging improvements at that point.
The media should be excited and supportive of this but I noticed that Peston had a problem with it, namely how long it would take - he obviously has no idea of strategic change of this scale.
Implementation is of course the key, and I wonder how Labour will support it?
Will they just moan and complain or will they act as a critical friend but support the policy?
Ambitious and challenging, I sincerely hope it works and actually makes a difference.
So the plan is:
Increase pay
Improve transport
Boost broadband
Raise education
Increase life expectancy
Increase 'pride of place'
Improve 'Well being'
Increase home ownership
Reduce crime
Sounds great.
Trouble is... no new money announced today.
So it's a wish list. Not a plan.
Meanwhile parts of the SE have 10 times the amount of money spent per head than in the NE. (IFS).
It'll need a shed load of money to even start the wish list. Not a white paper.
Increase pay
Improve transport
Boost broadband
Raise education
Increase life expectancy
Increase 'pride of place'
Improve 'Well being'
Increase home ownership
Reduce crime
Sounds great.
Trouble is... no new money announced today.
So it's a wish list. Not a plan.
Meanwhile parts of the SE have 10 times the amount of money spent per head than in the NE. (IFS).
It'll need a shed load of money to even start the wish list. Not a white paper.
Is it one of those government schemes where they announce the same spending 5 times to make it seem more?
We will invest £5 billion in transport infrastructure (maintaining the M1 for 20 years).
There'll be a major road connecting Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham with the capital (the M1)
We will invest in technology to improve transport efficiency (SPECS on the M1)
We will encourage sustainable development and green jobs (charging stations at services on the M1)
We will connect the North with the continent and the world (via the M1, and London)
We will invest £5 billion in transport infrastructure (maintaining the M1 for 20 years).
There'll be a major road connecting Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham with the capital (the M1)
We will invest in technology to improve transport efficiency (SPECS on the M1)
We will encourage sustainable development and green jobs (charging stations at services on the M1)
We will connect the North with the continent and the world (via the M1, and London)
The 12 points all seem laudable and worthwhile and in general the plan seems to have correctly identified most of the major issues behind the UK's awful regional inequality, which have been growing and brewing for decades.
The solutions seem to be moving in the right direction but I would say are too timid in the most pressing (and effective) areas. I think their timescales are incredibly optimistic given the scale of the problems they're trying to tackle and the resources (bureaucratic and financial) they seem to have allocated.
But they're better than nothing and it's good to see a government that acknowledges the problems and has set out a plan to alleviate them, rather than the modus operandi of governments of the past 25 years which has been to proclaim ever-growing prosperity based on national figures and to pump an ever greater proportion of spending and investment into already-prosperous regions because that has a better short term case.
Finally (just to take the lustre off) I am very sceptical that this government has the drive and expertise to actually achieve many of those goals. Interventionism and redistribution are entirely alien to the British state now, this government has a track record of big announcements with no follow-up and Johnson has a record of big, positive visions but being too lazy to get to grips with the details and implementation. And I read some of those policies and my first thought was 'that sounds like a scheme ripe for funnelling public money into private hands for very little return'.
The solutions seem to be moving in the right direction but I would say are too timid in the most pressing (and effective) areas. I think their timescales are incredibly optimistic given the scale of the problems they're trying to tackle and the resources (bureaucratic and financial) they seem to have allocated.
But they're better than nothing and it's good to see a government that acknowledges the problems and has set out a plan to alleviate them, rather than the modus operandi of governments of the past 25 years which has been to proclaim ever-growing prosperity based on national figures and to pump an ever greater proportion of spending and investment into already-prosperous regions because that has a better short term case.
Finally (just to take the lustre off) I am very sceptical that this government has the drive and expertise to actually achieve many of those goals. Interventionism and redistribution are entirely alien to the British state now, this government has a track record of big announcements with no follow-up and Johnson has a record of big, positive visions but being too lazy to get to grips with the details and implementation. And I read some of those policies and my first thought was 'that sounds like a scheme ripe for funnelling public money into private hands for very little return'.
I don't believe a word of it. Of course the aspirations are the right ones, but given the treatment the North of England got in the Integrated Rail Plan - Eastern leg cancelled, HS3 cancelled, substandard Manchester station, electrification that should have been done in the 1980s hailed as a bold leap forward - why on earth would anyone read this and think that even one item in the list will receive the required investment and leadership?
It probably won't go down well here but there is something to be said about raising pay in some parts of the public sector to attract the best people to the jobs.
The same can be said for staff numbers so money isn't sent out to the private sector via consultants.
You need the best people to deliver this kind of thing
The same can be said for staff numbers so money isn't sent out to the private sector via consultants.
You need the best people to deliver this kind of thing
JuanCarlosFandango said:
Is it one of those government schemes where they announce the same spending 5 times to make it seem more?
We will invest £5 billion in transport infrastructure (maintaining the M1 for 20 years).
There'll be a major road connecting Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham with the capital (the M1)
We will invest in technology to improve transport efficiency (SPECS on the M1)
We will encourage sustainable development and green jobs (charging stations at services on the M1)
We will connect the North with the continent and the world (via the M1, and London)
We will invest £5 billion in transport infrastructure (maintaining the M1 for 20 years).
There'll be a major road connecting Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham with the capital (the M1)
We will invest in technology to improve transport efficiency (SPECS on the M1)
We will encourage sustainable development and green jobs (charging stations at services on the M1)
We will connect the North with the continent and the world (via the M1, and London)
Looks like you've seen straight through it. Well spotted
leef44 said:
JuanCarlosFandango said:
Is it one of those government schemes where they announce the same spending 5 times to make it seem more?
We will invest £5 billion in transport infrastructure (maintaining the M1 for 20 years).
There'll be a major road connecting Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham with the capital (the M1)
We will invest in technology to improve transport efficiency (SPECS on the M1)
We will encourage sustainable development and green jobs (charging stations at services on the M1)
We will connect the North with the continent and the world (via the M1, and London)
We will invest £5 billion in transport infrastructure (maintaining the M1 for 20 years).
There'll be a major road connecting Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham with the capital (the M1)
We will invest in technology to improve transport efficiency (SPECS on the M1)
We will encourage sustainable development and green jobs (charging stations at services on the M1)
We will connect the North with the continent and the world (via the M1, and London)
Looks like you've seen straight through it. Well spotted
k have the Tories been doing for the last 12 years they've been in power....?Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff