Levelling up: North-South divide widening, think tank says

Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram says "real levelling up" is being led by local leaders

The North-South divide is widening despite the government's levelling up agenda, a think tank has warned.

IPPR North's research found for every job created in the north of England almost three were created in London and the South East.

Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said the findings showed the government's pledge to close regional inequalities was "empty words".

The government said the report was "misleading".

IPPR North, part of the Institute for Public Policy Research, said there was a "yawning gap between rhetoric and the policy reality" two years on from the government's pledge to level up.

The report said many of the government's promises related to new pots of money, such as the Levelling Up Fund, but the think tank noted the allocation represented an investment of just £32 per person in the north, compared to a £413 per-person drop in annual council service spending over the past decade.

Investment decisions

Researchers also criticised the government's scrapping of the eastern leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Leeds and the downgrading of a proposed high-speed rail line between Leeds and Manchester.

IPPR North's interim director Arianna Giovannini said the government had "over-promised and under-delivered on rebalancing our economy".

Jonathan Webb, one of the authors of the report, said more jobs were being created in London and the South East because of "investment decisions being favoured towards those parts of the country".

Poverty among people in work had accelerated, the report said, with the number of people living in households in relative poverty rising by 4% over the last decade to reach 3.5m.

Mr Webb called for further devolution to give more power to local leaders who "know their areas far better", a sentiment echoed by the Labour mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool city region.

Andy Burnham said: "If the government truly wants to rebalance the country, it should let go of some of its power and trust local and regional bodies to deliver for their communities."

Towns like Burnley are hoping to benefit from the levelling up policy

Mr Burnham said people in the North "deserve the same quality of infrastructure and services" as people in the south of England.

Mr Rotheram tweeted: "Real levelling up is being led by local leaders.

"With proper support and a real commitment to devolution, we could be doing so much more."

A Department for Levelling Up spokeswoman said: "This analysis is misleading as it focuses on just one part of our investment to level up the north of England.

"In addition to the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund, we're providing record investment in infrastructure worth over £96bn, £12bn in affordable housing and a £2.6bn Shared Prosperity Fund to help rebalance opportunity across the UK."

She added a government white paper "will drive forward this central mission in due course".

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