Inquiry launched into UK’s regional inequalities

The UK2070 Commission was launched today at a reception in the House of Lords.

The inquiry will examine the nature of inequalities across the regions and nations of the UK, considering the costs and consequences, and identifying underlying causes. It is expected to make recommendations for new policies to tackle problems of poorer places and some to support the sustainable growth of successful places.

Members on the commission include academics; the USA’s Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, which is helping to fund the study; IPPR North, Barton Willmore; and the Planning Inspectorate.

The members will be supported by a research partnership involving the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield and University College London (UCL), with additional support from the Heseltine Institute at the University of Liverpool, and the University of Cambridge.

Lord Kerslake said: “There will always be differences between places. But Britain has some of the most extreme regional disparities in the developed world and these impose great costs on society and handicap our economic performance and productivity. It does not have to be like this – as many other countries demonstrate.”

Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council and chair of Core Cities, added: “In part, the problems are caused by historic factors. But we need to find out whether they are also shaped by government decisions which have not been thought through, concentrating resources for growth and development in already successful and congested places and generating demands for new infrastructure, whilst putting pressure on the environment.”

Mark Sitch, senior partner at Barton Willmore told The Planner: “For the UK 2070 Commission and the country as a whole to make inroads in to the regional inequalities that exist, we must plan better, and we must do it at a national level with cross-party support that goes beyond the four-year political cycle.

“We believe we can achieve a plan for growth by removing the geographical boundaries, creating a National Spatial Framework with infrastructure investment at the heart. In doing this we could unlock housing, employment, education opportunities in the locations where they are needed to create healthy, sustainable, accessible and thriving places for all.”

Image credit | iStock