A GROUP of more than 60 councils – including Warrington – today sets out detailed proposals on how to rebuild the economy of Britain’s older industrial towns.
In a new report, the Industrial Communities Alliance, draws on academic evidence and on the hard-won experience of local authorities across the country.
It expresses the belief that following the result of the general election, the needs of older industrial towns have risen up the political agenda and the government is expressing a keenness to focus on towns and
address their problems.
The report calls for:
* A new emphasis on manufacturing, to build on the distinctive and on-going strength of the towns’ economy
* Effective use of State Aid, to strengthen manufacturing in particular, taking advantage of the potential new flexibilities following Brexit
* A replacement for EU funding – the government’s proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund needs to be worth up to £4bn a year
* Investment in skills, in particular through the apprenticeship system and lifelong learning
* Solutions to property market failure, especially the provision of gap funding to trigger private investment in land and buildings for industry and commerce
* Improvements in connectivity, to ease commuting, open up job opportunities and raise the towns’ attractiveness to potential employers
* Local powers and local budgets, to bring to bear local knowledge, local expertise and local accountability.
Britain’s older industrial towns are a major part of the country, accounting for around a quarter of the population.
The report shows that manufacturing remains the key component of the economy of the towns – the share of jobs in industry is twice as much as in the main regional cities, and four times more than in London. However, the overall growth in employment in the towns is much slower – between 2010 and 2019, the rate of job growth was five times faster in the main regional cities and six times faster in London.
In older industrial towns there are fewer white-collar jobs and earnings are below average. Recorded unemployment is low by historical standards but there remains substantial worklessness in the towns, and especially high numbers out-of-work on incapacity benefits.
Employment in the towns has been sustained in part by rising commuting, especially to nearby cities – up by 200,000 since 2010 – and the trend has been accelerating as job growth in the cities pulls away from surrounding towns. Commuting times suggest that this is neither a sustainable solution nor one that can be applied everywhere.
Cllr Keith Cunliffe, chairman of the Industrial Communities Alliance, said: “We should welcome the resurgence of the cities, but where does that leave the rest of the country, and our older industrial towns in particular?
“Our towns are important places in their own right and not just there to provide workers and consumers for the big cities. What our towns need are more jobs, and better jobs, closer to home.
“After years of neglect, the Westminster government seems to be waking up to our concerns. If they seize the moment and run with our proposals there is the opportunity to make a real difference to our communities.”
