This project involves researchers working with places to better understand how they can improve productivity, along with their economic and social conditions with the aim of becoming more prosperous. We are working with stakeholders in places across the UK to help develop a broad-based investment strategy to enable places to improve the productive use of their resources. The project team works closely with The Productivity Institute’s eight Productivity Forums (PFs) and we are now working with places across the UK in each of the Forum areas.
We have now published our report on Rochdale utilising the capitals approach. Read our blog about Rochdale.
Regional inequalities in the UK are stark. Statistics collected in the UK show the large regional differences from healthy life expectancy, income, house prices, investment, productivity, skills, and public services. Studies that have looked at inequality in output per head over the past 100 years show that the UK regions were most equal during the 1970s, following a period of significant investment in public services (the welfare state), industry and housing after the Second World War. There has been much policy churn in regional policy since: in just over four decades there have been over 50 local economic growth initiatives.
Changes in the economy, such as deindustrialisation and increased clustering of innovation hubs, have caused greater inequalities, and there has not always been agreement on the best course of mitigating those effects for places which have been left behind.
We suggest that a broad-based investment strategy focusing on all the capitals, rather than one asset, is essential to achieve consistent improvements in places over the long term. The project has been assessing the strength and weaknesses of community capitals using a mixed methods approach. We analyse indicators for the capitals in an experimental data tool and combine these with qualitative analysis (consisting of surveys, workshop and interviews in each place). Based on our findings, we recommend how to enhance the capitals to achieve consistent improvements in places over the short, medium and long term. A broad-based investment strategy is more likely to create positive cycles that will add value for people and places and raise productivity.
The campaign was initially inspired by the last government’s Levelling Up White Paper, which sets out six capitals conceived to help places drive levelling up (physical, human, intangible, financial, social and institutional) with the ostensive objective to strengthen specific capitals in places where they are comparatively weak. There are also studies in the academic literature that utilise this approach. We analyse data on the six capitals and add natural capital.
The Labour Government has set out plans for places to work on Local Growth Plans. An assessment of the capitals in a place gives an indication of weaknesses in the local economy where investment should be targeted.
The pilot phase of the project focused on Rochdale. We are currently working with Fermanagh-Omagh District Council, Northern Ireland and three London Boroughs that make up most of the Upper Lea Valley (Haringey, Enfield, and Waltham Forest) in the first phase of the project. We plan to publish reports by the end of the year.
We have six places involved in the second phase of project. These include Newport, Wales; North Lanarkshire, Scotland; Great Yarmouth, East Anglia; Walsall, West Midlands; Cumberland, North West of England and South Tyneside, North East of England.
Lead researcher Philip McCann (The University of Manchester)
Collaborators: Marianne Sensier, Kate Penney, Joel Hoskins and Michael Francis (all The University of Manchester)
