The Government’s recently launched
industrial strategy could boost city
economic growth across the UK, but it will not be a
game-changer in terms of tackling the North-South divide.
Launched at the end of January 2017, the Government’s ‘Building our Industrial Strategy’ green
paper proposes 10 pillars of economic growth including investing in science, research and innovation, upgrading
infrastructure and cultivating world-leading sectors.
The plan aims to drive and ‘divide growth across the whole country’, and deliver this through investment,
bolstered by regional growth funds. The strategy was discussed in a public consultation in April 2017.
Our latest UK Powerhouse report, produced with the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr),
welcomes many of the proposals but raises concerns that not enough is being done to develop more balanced city
economies across the UK.
To demonstrate that the North-South divide will be insufficiently addressed by the current round of policies
and investment, we predict that not one city in the North or the Midlands will be amongst the top 10 fastest growing
in the next 10 years.
We also predict that the gap between London
and the Northern Powerhouse economies will grow
by £25.7bn over the next 10 years. The gap between
London and the Midlands Engine region is set to
increase by £46.6bn during the same period.
Our latest study calls for detail on how an
over-concentration of industries in certain locations can
be avoided – something which the report says can limit
a city from maximising its true economic potential –
and how Government wants slower growing regions to
emulate the successes of cities such as Milton Keynes,
Oxford and Cambridge, where clusters and networking
effects have driven growth.
Although there is praise for the planned
£126m investment into a world-class research institute
at Manchester University, the report raises concerns
about the overall level of detail included by the
Government on how to address regional imbalances in
education and skills.
The report highlights that the fastest growth
cities in the UK have multi-faceted and well-balanced
economies, but warns that the government’s aim
of cultivating world-leading industries will mean the
government is likely to support already strong industries
and this could hold back slower growing cities.
An example of the likelihood of investment being
channelled into already strong industries is the
£49.7m which has been allocated for the International
Advanced Manufacturing Park in Sunderland.
This investment will strengthen the region’s
automotive sector but this industry already dominates
the city’s economy and it will leave only £7.5m for
Newcastle, Gateshead, Northumberland, Durham, and
Tyneside. The report highlights that the singular focus
on car manufacturing, the intended use for the business
park, means other industries will be left picking up
crumbs of investment overall.
Published: 16 May 2017
Focus on Manufacturing - Edition 5
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