Public spending in the North has fallen behind the England average despite the Government’s flagship “levelling up” policy, a think tank has now said. IPPR North – a branch of the Institute for Public Policy Research – said that, despite the Government’s rhetoric, the levelling-up agenda has in many ways been “business as usual”.
Per-person public spending was higher in real terms in northern England in 2019 than the England average, according to the analysis, but by 2021, the latest year of available data, it had fallen behind.
Although public spending has increased in every region of England, the think tank said its research shows that in 2021 total public spending on the North was £16,223 per person - an increase of 17 per cent on 2019, compared with the England average of £16,309 in 2021, which was an increase of 20 per cent.
That means per-person public spending in the North went from being £246 higher than the England average in 2019, to £86 under the average in 2021.
The Manchester Evening News highlighted how one in four children in Greater Manchester is living in poverty, but the main Tory contenders to be our next Prime Minister are barely mentioning the promises to 'level up' the country made at the last election. The M.E.N has now joined with other Northern newspapers to urge Sunak and Truss not to neglect the North in a new campaign.
Looking at the comparison with the whole of the UK, the figures show the North’s per-person public spending was lower than the national average in 2019, and with a UK-wide increase of 19 per cent, has fallen further behind. IPPR North said London saw the highest total per-person public spending and the highest increase, up 25 per cent to £19,231.
The spending gap between the North and the capital doubled during that period, it said, from a difference of £1,513 per person to £3,008. Yorkshire and the Humber received the lowest total per-person public spending in England in 2021, according to the analysis, at £15,540, and the lowest percentage increase compared with 2019 was in the North East, at 16 per cent.
IPPR North said it also examined the data while excluding the spending on health and Covid support to allow for the impact of the pandemic, but that it found the same trend, with £11,505 per person public spending in 2021 in the North, up 2 per cent on 2019, compared to the England average of a 3 per cent increase to £11,524.
Marcus Johns, a research fellow at IPPR North, said: “On public spending, the money simply didn’t follow the levelling-up rhetoric. Although an increase in public spending on 2019 was welcome, and absolutely essential, spending is lower – and grew slower in the North – than in other parts of the country.
“At the same time, the country became more centralised and inequalities widened. This is because power is not distributed fairly in this country.”
Another research fellow at the think tank, Ryan Swift, said: “Our analysis suggests that levelling up was, in many ways, business as usual. But that has to change. The next prime minister will enter Downing Street as a result of votes leant to their party by many in the North and the Midlands in 2019.
“The Government has not yet delivered for people in these communities, so the next prime minister will have to go much further to unlock northern prosperity.”
Commenting on the report, shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said: “These figures are scandalous. For all the Tory promises to people in the North, regional inequality has got worse since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. And now the two continuity candidates scrapping to replace him are vying for the mantle of Margaret Thatcher.
“It’s now blindingly obvious that the Conservatives’ commitment to levelling up is dead. But levelling up is not dead. The next Labour government will give power to communities, invest to bring good jobs to every community, and ensure every part of the country has the backing to make a contribution again.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these figures and are pressing full steam ahead with levelling up the North.
“We are transforming the rail network with £96 billion investment to deliver faster and more reliable journeys, creating thousands of jobs with freeports in Teesside and the Humber, and supporting projects that improve everyday life with our £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund.
“We also understand the pressures facing local authorities, which is why we made an additional £3.7 billion available to councils in recognition of their vital role and to ensure they are able to deliver key services.”
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