Level best? The levelling up agenda and UK regional inequality
‘Levelling up’ - a policy agenda focused on reducing regional inequalities - has become the new mantra in British politics. This paper critiques the policy programme from its emergence in 2019 to the publication of the 2022 levelling up white paper. While it is a welcome recognition of gross regiona...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2023
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| Summary: | ‘Levelling up’ - a policy agenda focused on reducing regional inequalities - has become the new mantra in
British politics. This paper critiques the policy programme from its emergence in 2019 to the publication
of the 2022 levelling up white paper. While it is a welcome recognition of gross regional inequality, local
institutions lack capacity to deliver, there has been little genuine devolution and our analysis shows that
little new funding has been committed. “Levelling up” could simply become the latest in a list of politically
useful but empty slogans which are used as a substitute for resources and devolution. |
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