Last month in Doncaster, the Northern Research Group met for its very first conference. Whilst some may not have heard of this group, it is becoming one of the most influential in British politics. Made up of Conservative MPs from across the North of England, particularly those constituencies that turned blue for the first time in 2019, it exists to lobby for the North and ensure the Government delivers on its levelling-up agenda.
The conference brought together more than 300 MPs, businesses, lobby groups, the media, and Government Ministers, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and Levelling Up Secretary of State Michael Gove.
And it represented a huge chance to shape what levelling up means and how we turbocharge our region.
Three big policy asks came out of the conference and will shape the lobbying efforts of the NRG collectively, and individually amongst its members. The first will ensure a fair level of investment. The North of England, when combined, has an economy that is roughly the ninth biggest in the whole of Europe – surpassing that of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined. But this is not reflected in spend, with areas like London receiving 15 per cent more per head in Government investment than the UK average. Creating a new levelling-up formula, similar to the Barnett formula which provides funding for Scotland and Wales, would address this and ensure that we use this once in a lifetime opportunity to rebalance the economy and delivery of public services.
The second policy ask will accelerate the devolution agenda. Since the role of London Mayor was established in 2000 there has been a trickle of devolution plans, including expanding metro mayors, creating Police and Crime Commissioners, and some local government reorganisation. But we remain one of the most centralised developed countries in the world. Creating a presumption in favour of devolution, where it has the support of MPs, councils, and business groups, would rectify this promptly. And when matched with economic powers, like the ability to give tax breaks to certain industries, would allow clusters to be created, competing on the world stage.
And finally, we must put academic and vocational education on an equal footing. Progress is being made on this, with new Institutes of Technology being established which are more focused on vocations. But there remains work to do to change culture, when so many still remember the poor attempt to shoehorn 50% of people into a university education.
The north, and Lancashire in particular, has so much going for it. Our challenge as a region is to ensure our asks are communicated clearly and persuasively to Government and that is what the NRG is all about.
