How to make Levelling Up work for everyone
The Panel of Brilliant People’s recommendations
In March, after almost a year of hard work, our Panel of Brilliant People (meet them here) presented nine key recommendations to Ministers in Parliament on how towns, industry and Government can make ‘levelling up’ work for communities across England. The presentation which is summarised below, can be seen in full here.
Comprising dedicated young people from a diverse range of backgrounds across the country, the panel has been working to ensure that each town’s needs and priorities continue to be heard and local ideas and decision making continue to play their crucial role in the Towns Fund programme of activity. The presentation summarised the most important factors the Panel have identified in making sure that one of the Government’s key agendas, Levelling Up, is a success, with an authentic take on where investment and evidence-based decision making might make the most impact for towns and their wider conurbations.
A place to be proud of
The Panel discussed the importance of place. They noted that place is more than a collection of houses or a point on a map, it is a sense of community and pride in where you live. It’s the job that you do, where you spend your free time and how you get around every day. Your town has an identity and brings local pride that comes from a rich, shared history which can be seen every single day.
Place is at the core of Levelling Up, but this only works when we invest in people. According to the Lancashire Institute for Economic and Business Research, Centre for Business Management and Enterprise, 130,000 people in Lancashire are below their required work skill level, and a further 80,000 commute out of Lancashire for work. Now, Lancashire is levelling up with a £5bn investment in the new National Cyber Force HQ at Samlesbury. This will give a long-term commitment in the area, directly creating 2,000 highly skilled local jobs of national significance.
The Panel of Brilliant People recommends that Levelling Up and the Towns Fund invests in people and their long-term skills.
Investing in people before process
The Panel also suggested that… There is absolutely benefit to injecting money from the public purse, but as set out by the Crewe Town Board Chair, “public investment cannot be the only form of investment in the process”. Another good example of investment in people is in Darlington where the historic Darlington yard’s will be resorted and lead the regeneration of the town centre, helping to reskill the workforce for the future.
A strong sense of place is only achieved by investing in people, and taking stock of the area, local needs, and the fabric of local society.
The Panel recommends that the needs of the community are at the heart of decision making through a holistic approach, with a balanced view of health, infrastructure, economics, and culture.
The power of communication
A key thread throughout the Panel’s presentations was about communicating with people and business and ensuring that local voices are heard. They suggest asking what benefits people can see in their day to day lives. Indicators that track comparative success are vital, but they need to be understood by the people whose lives they are improving.
When decisions are made, the local community needs to be at the forefront of the journey. Decisions can’t be made without involving local people in the conversation.
The panel recommends that Towns focus on the three Es: Education, Empowerment and Engagement. They need to start a conversation with their local communities, listen, and respond to what they are told in their proposals.
In full, the panel’s recommendations were:
Consider the needs of community in the heart of decision making
Take a holistic approach to the area, with a balanced view of health, infrastructure, economics and culture
Focus on the perception of place achieved by stronger local communication
Develop indicators that track comparative success
Better access to higher quality information
Increase the overall proportion of revenue funding
Boards need to represent their community
Participation should be meaningful and appropriate
Community engagement should start with education and form a culture
These recommendations provide a representation of what young people around the country think about major regeneration and change, today. The learning, ideas and honest approach they brought to the programme provided lessons and insights for everyone working on the Towns Fund. Everyone at the TFDP would like to thank them for their commitment and hard work over the past year and wish them well as they continue their journeys in shaping their towns and local places in the years to come.