Earlier this month, the government published its Levelling Up White Paper, setting out how it plans to spread opportunity more equally across the UK.
Over the last two years, CPF members have repeatedly helped to inform policymakers about what needs doing to boost opportunity across the whole country, so there will be a lot of interest in the white paper.
Individual groups may like to look back at the ideas that they submitted for our CPF consultations to see which of their suggestions appear in the white paper—get in touch to let us know which of yours you can recognise. To kick you off, here’s a few of the CPF proposals that we spotted, including the winning idea from our 2021 policy proposal competition:
Boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector, especially in those places where they are lagging
"tax interventions that support and incentivise private sector investment, such as the super-deduction and Enterprise Zones [and] reformed R&D tax reliefs"
"the refreshed Export Strategy seeks to raise the exporting culture of the UK, including through the Export Academy which is giving SMEs across the UK the know-how to export with confidence, and creating a network of Export Champions"
"new Institutes of Technology, which will be able to react quickly to the evolving technical skills needs of an area"
"introduce London-style contactless ticketing across regional rail commuter networks, delivering price capping, ending queues at ticket windows and ensuring that passengers are always charged the best fare"
"devolving more transport powers and responsibilities in England"
"reduce Air Passenger Duty on domestic fights to support connectivity between regions"
Spread opportunities and improve public services, especially in those places where they are weakest
"opening eleven new specialist 16-19 maths schools, with a commitment to one in each region of England"
"create a new UK National Academy [to] support pupils from all backgrounds and areas to succeed at the very highest levels ... [It] will harness cutting edge technology to ensure geography or income is no barrier to being academically stretched beyond the curriculum"
"build the network of Family Hubs and transform Start for Life services for parents and babies, carers and children in half of local authorities in England"
"nine new Institutes of Technology (IoT) across England ... collaborations between colleges, universities and employers, specialising in delivering higher technical education ... [that] can react quickly to the current and evolving technical skills needs of an area"
"transform the student finance system [to] deliver greater parity between FE and HE, and bring colleges and universities closer together"
"a flexible Lifelong Loan Entitlement will provide individuals in England with a loan entitlement equivalent to four years’ worth of fees for post-18 education"
"establishing at least 100 Community Diagnostic Centres in England by 2025"
Restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging, especially in those places where they have been lost
"refocus Homes England so that it uses its extensive statutory powers to partner with local leaders to unlock barriers and drive forward regeneration"
"ensure that, by 2025, every young person in England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer"
"new minimum standards for rented homes"
Empower local leaders and communities, especially in those places lacking local agency
"taking forward negotiations to agree a Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) deal with York and North Yorkshire and an expanded MCA deal for the North East"