Businesses say levelling up bid is bold but light on detail

Senior figures in the region also highlight that the paper reflects the need for infrastructure improvements just months after Whitehall scrapped Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 East.

• The moves to scrap the eastern leg of HS2 were branded a 'betrayal for the north' at the time.

The white paper sets out Government aims to rebalance the economy, life chances, opportunities, productivity, housing, education and infrastructure across the UK.

It also outlines plans to devolve more powers to the West Yorkshire mayor as well as establishing a mayoral combined authority to cover York and North Yorkshire.

West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, which includes York, has long been pushing for investment equality so the region can play its full role in contributing to the UK economy.

Amanda Beresford, chair, said it was right that the policy sought to set targets beyond the next election. Levelling up needed long-term commitment 'to come anywhere near fixing the challenges left through de-industrialisation and from rural and coastal economic exclusion', she said.

“Whilst the paper sets out bold ambitions it is light on how these interventions will be funded.

"The paper also references the need for infrastructure improvements which seems contradictory given the announcements in late 2021 to scrap Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 East, both of which would have provided significant improvements to capacity and connectivity across the North."

Amanda added: “The paper is right to propose increased devolution and we welcome proposals for York and North Yorkshire, but this must come with significant funding and autonomy if it is to make real impact.

“The white paper also proposes to continue the Local Skills Improvement Plan initiative, which aims to put businesses at the heart of the skills agenda and ensure training providers can respond to current and future needs."

She added: "We hope the rollout will enable our chamber to develop regional programmes on behalf of firms across West and North Yorkshire."

Ministers also proposed that the Arts Council England should spend more outside the capital and give cash to arts organisations which want to work in other parts of England.

They also focused on a need to increase diversity in audiences, employees and the boards of arts and cultural organisations, while the white paper repeated a previous promise to spend £40m on 50 cultural projects involving cultural assets, libraries, museums and creative industries.

Olivia Chatten, master of York Guild of Media Arts, said many parts of the UK were still suffering from an imbalance of opportunities in the cultural and creative industries.

“It’s good to hear that the government is focusing its attention on arts and culture outside London. For too long, places like York have been treated as second best when it comes to funding and support.

"The Guild looks forward to playing its part in making sure the creative industries here benefit from that new focus.”

Sir Roger Marsh, who chairs the NP11 group of northern local enterprise partnerships and the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership which covers York, last week said the White Paper 'starts to define and measure what success looks like'. 

So what are the goals of the White Paper?

The success of Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda will be tested against 12 key targets, under the plan set out by the Government.

The White Paper produced by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove describes the goals as his “missions” for the remainder of the decade.

The targets for 2030 are:

– Pay, employment and productivity will have risen in all parts of the UK, with each area containing a “globally competitive” city.

– Domestic public investment in research and development outside the “greater South East” of England will increase by at least 40%.

– Local public transport across the country will be “significantly closer” to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing.

– The UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.

– Some 90% of primary school children in England will have achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, with the percentage meeting those aims in the worst-performing areas to have increased by a third.

– Some 200,000 more people in England will complete “high quality skills training” annually, including 80,000 in the lowest-skilled parts of the country.

– The gap in healthy life expectancy (HLE) between the highest and lowest areas will have narrowed, and by 2035 HLE will rise by five years.

– There will be improved “well-being” in all parts of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and lowest performing areas closing.

– All parts of the UK will have improved “pride in place”, assessed by measures such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community.

– People renting their homes will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas. The number of “non-decent” rented homes will have fallen by 50%.

– Homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have fallen, focused on the worst-affected areas.

– Every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.