Good Local Economics

Greater Manchester has done a fine job in the last 25 years of delivering real change. In the last months, on the back of the devolution agreement and the devolution of health and social care budgets, it is starting to do even more. Nevertheless, economic challenges remain and poverty and inequality are hard to shift. The current level of devolved power and resource cannot be the fixed deal and must be pushed further if Greater Manchester and other combined authorities are to scale up the advantages of devolution.

Reforms to make banking competition work for consumers have reached an impasse. Do nothing and we can expect nothing to result, but even with Project Merlin – which was established by the four major UK banks (HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group) and hopes to improve stability and competition between banks – lending fell for Britain’s top banks in every quarter a year after its implementation.