The two key drivers to levelling up? Gove and localism

COMMENT Should the property industry be excited about the forthcoming White Paper on levelling up? I like to think so. But the jury is out. Publication has now been delayed until after Christmas (spare a thought for the poor civil servants who will now spend the entire festive season frantically horse trading, particularly with Treasury). Does a delay mean a better resultant document? Again, I like to think so. But, more to the point: given that this is still a wholly unpopulated policy, just how much heavy lifting can one document do? We wait to see. Seeking for clues to the approach, the ardent analyst could do worse than scrutinise secretary of state Michael Gove’s (impressive) performance at the Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing select committee on 8 November. Gove adopts a thoroughly logical and precise methodology. He starts addressing each problem by deciding what he wants in principle, then drills down to fix each bit, making sure they all work together. In front of the select committee, it was striking that he was equally confident in all areas on which he was questioned. Gove is clever enough to understand that to be successful, he needs all the help he can get: whether that be more scrutiny, or him providing information, or listening to people in the know. So our industry could help. And, I believe, we would be listened to. How to level up? According to the secretary of state, levelling up means: “making opportunity more equal across the country”. That is, addressing geographical inequality of outcomes in the UK. Critical to this mission is four tenets: helping to improve and strengthen local leadership; improving living standards where they are low; improving quality of public services where they are lagging and helping to restore pride and place, with a focus on local identity. You can expect to see these four as metrics for measuring progress in the White Paper. So the role of the new department evolves into one that co-ordinates all the steps across government departments in Whitehall. Gove is the master of knowing how to harness effort right across HMG. Not many can make government work the way he can. The prime minister will have a nominal (my word) role chairing an initial “strategy meeting” but the operational outcomes – the real work (my words again) – will be managed by a cabinet committee chaired by Gove. That group aims to “make sure that we give coherence to the operation of a set of levelling-up missions across government” (his words). There may even be a “levelling-up quango” which would monitor every aspect of government policy for its impact on regional inequalities. Central to all this is “trying to look at what all the levers are”. Much of the answer lies in helping to improve and strengthen local leadership. That is, localism, in anyone’s book. Hurrah! No strings attached How do we strengthen local leadership in order to make sure that local government is being seen visibly to effect a beneficial transformation in people’s lives – both economically and in terms of the places where they live? Gove hints that fewer strings will be attached to money, provided local leaders step up. And they could be judged on their own priorities. As reported in The Times on Saturday, the White Paper will be looking at more mayors and combined authorities: even going so far as to introduce the concept of American-style “governors” – presumably a construct for those who have already dug in their heels in opposition to mayors. It owes much to the previous work of Greg Clark and Michael Heseltine, which in turn leant on a seminal book by Benjamin Barber If Mayors Ruled the World . That and the incontrovertible fact that, across the world, places with mayors do better on every measurable metric than places without mayors. What of specifics? Gove clearly signals that he intends to change the Treasury’s Green Book approach to investment in building in the target areas. He’s seeking ways for the government to invest in meaningful urban regeneration projects outside London and the South East. Good for us. Gove believes that housing is central to unlocking the levelling-up puzzle. In particular, he will make sure the these strategies confront a set of interconnected issues: both improving supply and quality, and getting on to the housing ladder. Yes, he will look at the planning system again, but turning the argument on its head, with a new mindset of “we want to be in a position where communities accept and welcome new development”. Tackling nimbyism positively (how novel), he hopes to address issues of aesthetics and quality, infrastructure and amenities, and environmental degradation. All of this from the place of “the feeling that this is being done to, rather than with” local people and Whitehall “imposing top-down numbers and unable to take reasonableness into account”. So we’re back to localism and local targets again. But make no mistake: plans to “extend, deepen and simplify” devolution will be central, fundamental, to Gove’s levelling-up mission. Jackie Sadek is chief operating officer of UK Regeneration and a former regeneration policy adviser to government