The authors of the Levelling Up White Paper clearly enjoy a bit of history in their spare time. We are reminded of the successes of the Italian City States in the 15th century which through their autonomy benefited from technological breakthroughs and innovations.
Cities such as Florence did of course flourish by being able to act independently. However, an awful lot of it also had to do with their geographical and cultural proximity to the East. It was the sustained exodus of wealth and talent from Constantinople over a thirty plus year period which really got things going. By the time Mehmed II finally breached its city walls in 1453 and ended the long Byzantine reign, anyone who was anyone had decamped leaving the City’s population a shadow of its former self.
One thing history shows us repeatedly is that elites know when the party is about to stop. Whether it was Constantinople to Florence or Ghent to Antwerp to name but two examples, elites are good at timing their exits. Therefore, reading the paper with an amateur historian’s eye you wonder whether the Government is actually inadvertently trying to call time on London and get everyone out?
The ‘80/20 rule’, which sees 80% of funding for housing supply directed at ‘maximum affordability areas’, effectively prioritising the South East, will be scrapped. The current formula means the South East gets £4 in £5 of funding, despite representing 43% of population. Much of the £1.8bn brownfield funding will be diverted to the North and the Midlands to support this.
It’s been the case for sometime that local government reform is needed. A strategic layer is lacking. The last serious attempt at reform, when I was working at the Local Government Information Unit saw David Miliband the then Minister in charge running for the hills.
This time, nine areas will be invited to agree new county deals and ministers will seek to agree further mayoral combined authority deals for York and North Yorkshire. By 2030, every part of England that wishes to have a ‘London-style’ devolution deal will have one.
This is the right direction but it comes with a big unsolved problem. Even a London style mayor doesn’t necessarily move the dial too far if the money isn’t there. Without meaningful localisation of funding, the right incentives won’t exist to give the country the jet engines it needs.
Whilst it is laudable to transfer resource away from areas which perhaps need it less, the Government should not forget that the Capital will remain the powerhouse of UK plc for years to come and should be cherished as such. London is not yet a latter day Constantinople and much of the North is yet to resemble the 15th century city states of Italy.
