Collaborative, confident, clear – making the case for flourishing regions
“One of the things I heard in the Treasury at the time [I was a minister in that department] is that ‘there is no such thing as local growth.’”
The Rt Hon Greg Clark, ex cabinet minister.
Former housing secretary Greg Clark’s insight into his discussions with Treasury staff speaks to a mindset within government that’s constrained the economy for too long.
Overly centralised, mistrusting of local partners and blind to great organisations supporting growth across the country. It’s a bleakly depressing take.
Thankfully, that comment shared by Mr Clark happened more than a decade ago. And although it’s easy to miss in the day to day, we’ve seen a shift since then.
Devolution is on the agenda. The Chancellor’s Mais Lecture pointed to further investment in cities. And local growth is happening.
In the west country, we now have the evidence to back it up. I attended the Festival of Flourishing regions yesterday (19 March), which launched a major piece of work by universities looking at how our region is doing.
The Brunel Centre’s Strategic Economic Audit of the West of England doesn’t roll off the tongue easily. But it contains a raft of data and insights from people who work here that should be invaluable to those making the case for investment, for government backing or just to better tell the story of this place.
The report highlights that our region which covers the four local authority areas around Bristol and Bath is the most productive outside of London. We’ve got innovative businesses, strong trade, a skilled labour market and four great universities.
It also speaks to challenges, which need fixing – transport, housing affordability, child poverty, and youth unemployment in Bristol.
I was struck by the section on business which highlights that SMEs in the region are stuck in a ‘holding pattern’, lacking confidence in the wider economy and reluctant to invest.
This is complex, multi-layered stuff. It was good to hear senior well-respected speakers like Greg Clark offer reflections in a measured way that stands in contrast to much of the shrill commentary we see in the media.
Anyone who lives and works in the West of England will have their own perspective on what works and what doesn’t. Like me, they’ll have their own views on what the data says. It’s worth taking a look for yourself.
Supporting local growth
Beyond the data, a few themes from yesterday’s discussion resonated with me as a small business owner and communicator who cares about successful places.
There’s clearly an understanding that having the facts and figures to hand, however powerful, is only part of the process.
Having the conversations, telling the stories clearly and bringing people with you on the journey are all necessary next steps. This is about more than ‘shouting louder’ about the good bits, which a couple of people called for yesterday.
In my experience, places speak more clearly when partners agree on the basics and make the case together. Good narratives flow from this.
Collaboration is key
I know I’ve said this before, but collaboration matters. We’ve seen in the West of England that no amount of shouting about how brilliant things are will work if partners can’t agree on the fundamentals.
After an embarrassingly damaging period, it’s good to see partnership working in the West of England back on the table under Labour mayor Helen Godwin.
“There have been times in the past when there’s been a disconnect with how we communicate as partners,” said Hartcliffe-born leader of Bristol City Council Tony Dyer (Green Party).
“That’s now changing,” he added.
Be confident and clear
Cllr Dyer said that our region is almost ‘pathologically modest’ when it comes to bigging itself up.
I’ve written before how places need to think beyond developing a brochure and tell their story in human way. Show that things are happening. You’re creating successful places, not just delivering a transport interchange.
Bristol has an opportunity to do this with regeneration at Temple Meads, where 10,000 homes are proposed for the centre of the city.
It’s time to make that change mean something.
Speak to local business and residents
Many conversations about growth and investment focus on the big numbers. Mega deals, big job numbers, huge investment.
These matter to leaders and ministers. But, as the report highlights, it’s not the solution on its own.
What sort of growth would we have if those thousands of smaller businesses employing less than 100 people all grew by a few percentage points?
How do we stop chronically high levels of youth unemployment in parts of Bristol become a long-term problem? How do we make housing much more affordable? And how to make it easier to get into and around places by any form of transport?
At a time of uncertainty and technological change, any growth plan worth its salt must keep these challenges firmly in view.
Former Bank of England chief economist and president of the British Chambers of Commerce Andy Haldane likened the UK economy to a dodgy car, using overpriced fuel with a careless or reckless driver at the wheel.
“A strategy for growth that doesn’t speak to the needs of an everyday economy isn’t worth having,” he said.
That goes to the heart of the challenge for me. Tackling the things that show up in everyday life is key to getting our economy firing on all cylinders.
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