Levelling up spend decisions should be made locally

A new study has found that two-thirds of people living in areas prioritised for levelling up funding want decisions on spending in their communities made locally and not by Whitehall.

The Law Family Commission on Civil Society, chaired by former Cabinet Secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell, is calling on the government to empower communities to devise and deliver levelling up schemes in their areas. It is also urging for greater investment in social infrastructure and grassroots initiatives to foster civil society in communities across the UK.

YouGov polling shows that 65 per cent of people in levelling up priority areas want decisions on how to spend levelling up funding taken locally, by local government or community groups and charities. Just 10 per cent want decisions taken by national government.

The commission’s report highlights how the success of previous attempts at regeneration has depended on community involvement and the strength of civil society. Yet research shows that the areas most in need of levelling up across the UK are also the ones in which civil society is weakest. For example, analysis of the NHS Volunteer Responders scheme found that the most deprived parts of the country had twice the demand for help from NHS volunteer responders during the pandemic. Yet they had 3.7 times fewer volunteers, leading to many requests for support going unmet.

Matt Whittaker, LFCCS Commissioner and CEO of Pro Bono Economics, said: “Politicians of all stripes have attempted and failed to deal with the UK’s dire performance on regional inequality for several decades. The latest effort to ‘level up’ the country, while much needed, will suffer the same fate unless its architects learn from the past and give a full role to the local charities, community groups and volunteers that together form the nation’s civil society.

“The Law Family Commission’s polling clearly shows that residents in levelling up priority areas want regeneration decisions to be made locally, and the Prime Minister himself has said that local leadership is the most important factor in delivering success. What is needed now is the vision and commitment from government to make this happen.

“Our recommendations are designed to ensure civil society’s contribution to the government’s ambition is as full and effective as it needs to be. Succeeding where others have failed, and making a real difference to people’s lives, is possible if we make the right investment in civil society and social infrastructure, alongside a clear effort to empower local leaders.”