ADEPT publishes good practice guide to help council’s level up

A new good practice guide to support councils in levelling up locally has been published, as the task to address inequalities continues.  

The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and engineering firm Amey has published the guide after working on it for a year.  

Developed with local leaders through ADEPT’s Excellence in Place Leadership (EiPL) programme, those involved decided to make levelling up a key priority following the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper in February.  

The guide examines the connections between levelling up, health and the environment and how each contributes to building sustainable growth.  

What has been learnt from levelling up so far is then condensed into three key areas: leadership and vision, using data and evidence, and building effective partnerships.  

Mark Kemp, President of ADEPT said: ‘Levelling up is critical to local authority thinking across all our services but in a cost of living crisis, even more so. The pandemic has been an accelerator of change, but budget cuts and inflation make delivery ever more difficult making the ability to think differently essential. 

‘Social inequality and climate change are inextricably linked and amongst the most urgent challenges of our times. Levelling up can offer a solution, which is why we have published this good practice guide to support councils grappling with competing priorities and shrinking funding pots.’  

Decision makers analysed the key elements for change including behavioural science, disruptive thinking, collaborative leadership, co-production and moving to a data driven approach as part of the programme.  

Created for place services, case study findings from local authorities across the UK are included in the guide, providing examples of best practice and ideas that offer pratical approaches to levelling up.  

Case studies include projects building natural capital in Greater Manchester, an investment framework in Norfolk and the West of England Combined Authority’s retrofit homes.  

Photo by Sincerely Media