Local places hold the key to post-Covid recovery, say LGiU

Whitehall must hand power to local communities in order to realise its ‘levelling up’ and ‘build back better’ agendas, according to a new report. 

The report by the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) argues that power must be decentralised and rebalanced around the needs of local places.

Key recommendations in the report include calls for more fiscal devolution, citizen-centred public services, cutting Whitehall red tape, promoting a sustainable local economy and strengthening local public health.

The research for this paper was conducted by Andrew Walker of the LGIU with Dr Patrick Diamond of the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London, and grant funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), to build up an understanding of the recent history of place-shaping in English governance.

‘Central government must wake up to the nature of the challenges that are playing out in our local areas,’ said the LGiU’s head of research, Andrew Walker.

‘They must realise that the power hoarding model of governance in this country is not only embarrassing internationally, but fails even on its own terms to deliver changes and strengthen communities.

‘If they won’t find ways to reset the balance and location of real power throughout the country now, in the light of the combined efforts of the past six months, then when will they?’ added Mr Walker.

‘Surely our collective imagination can stretch beyond a system that merely copes with crisis and feeds an ambition to return to “normal”. The imperative to redress the power imbalance is to allow us to move beyond crisis management towards resilience, flexibility and adaptability.  But more than that, it is to support and empower local communities to flourish.

‘Councils managing the shock of Covid-19 in local areas lack the powers, resources, data and infrastructure they need from Whitehall to do their job. Instead, many policy levers are jealously guarded by central government. This follows the disruption and uncertainty created by Brexit, which has so far been met with centrally mandated initiatives like the Government’s “levelling up” agenda.

‘The government’s aim of levelling up and building back better in local communities will only be achieved with a local, place-focussed approach to governance. As outlined in today’s report, local councils need the resources and levers to undertake place-shaping that promotes the well-being and resilience of communities and citizens across the UK.’

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