Leading voices from across policy, politics, and academia have set out a bold agenda to address inequality ahead of the government’s Levelling Up White Paper which is set to be released this month.

The report, Levelling Up - What is it and can it work, published by the Centre for Inequality and Levelling Up (CEILUP) at the University of West London, brings together 16 leading thinkers on levelling up including representatives of the All Party Parliamentary Group for ‘Left Behind’ Neighbourhoods, Rt Hon Justine Greening ex Secretary of State for Education; Rt Hon Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top; Lord Filkin; Policy Connect; Local Trust; Gordon Marsden ex Shadow Secretary of State for Further and Higher Education; The Salvation Army; Stoke-on-Trent City Council; and universities from across the UK.

Contributors agree that a hyper-local approach focused on the needs of the most challenged communities is needed to achieve change, all based on a holistic approach to tackling inequality.  The report also outlines a more system-thinking approach that connects policies to address levelling up together with broader policy agendas, all based on seven key principles. These are:

1. ‘Hyper devolve’ power to local communities and areas in greatest need: Devolution needs to be localised rather than ‘a reshuffling of the deckchairs’ at county or regional level.
2. Make civil society partners in levelling up: Universities, charities, trades unions, and community groups all have a huge role to play in levelling up.
3. No one model of place exists to ‘level up’ to: Looking at how levelling up is and could be working in Stoke, Derby and London shows how it requires new models of working where the strengths of all places are recognised.
4. Invest in ‘social’ as well as ‘physical’ infrastructure: Public services, childcare, green spaces, health, and education are at the heart of how people feel and experience where they live. The White Paper cannot ignore this in favour of eye-catching new buildings and roads.
5. Focus on real economic and social outcomes: Higher wages and greater job security for those in the lowest-paid work are essential if levelling up is to have any real meaning.
6. Make long term financial commitments and monitor their progress: Contributors point to the need for a community right-to-buy scheme to locally own vital assets; a community wealth fund, and for the new UK Infrastructure Bank to have broader measures of success.
7. Avoid competition between places and people: As one of the contributors commented, true levelling up will not be achieved through a succession of beauty parades for small pots of cash, and nor should towns be pitched against cities or coastal communities. It is crucial to identify areas in most need and do it correctly, without excluding other areas. 

Levelling Up - What is it and can it work follows an earlier report from CEILUP exploring how the first round of levelling up funding was distributed, showing that five of the 10 poorest areas of the country were overlooked.