Of course. I don't think it's really done anything, for a number of reasons. The obvious first one is that it was primarily an electoral play and the Tories never really had any interest in it. Being a Johnsonian project, it also leaned heavily towards big infrastructure projects, such as HS2, which, even aside from any actual merit in the thing itself, are nearly always massively over budget and delivered way beyond when they're supposed to. But he loves/loved his vanity projects, so it's been blundered ahead with. It's also a pretty heavily centralised process, with localities applying for funding from Whitehall, who retain the final say on what gets supported. This misses a key opportunity to give communities greater say and agency over their own affairs, which is especially problematic given the significant impact on local government funding since 2010. And don't get me started on free ports.
In our work with communities in the south-east/Anglia (and in France), we found that meaningful results can be achieved in a few different ways, all of which are rather more low-key but are henceforth actually achievable:
- Invest in community facilities as a priority, as these not only help to build social capital in communities but also help to regain some of the local pride that has been lost after prolonged periods of deprivation. It's difficult for either individuals or communities to thrive if they don't believe it's possible so giving some pride and agency back is important.
- Tap into net zero, as while there is an obvious demand for things like renewable energy or better insulation, we often lack the skilled people to deliver on that agenda. Addressing this could help to provide both good local jobs and also lower cost energy that is generated and distributed locally. The Co-Op has dipped its toes into this kind of thing but it's not in any way widespread. There is also a good crossover in terms of skills between post-industrial jobs and clean energy jobs so this could be a feasible transition for those communities.
- Improving digital skills, as while there has been a big push towards things like cybersecurity, data science, and coding, there are many who lack basic digital literacy, which is a huge barrier to participation in our largely digital society. This could help to address significant inequalities in areas such as healthcare and financial services, where many are frozen out.
- Encourage returnees. Human capital is clearly very important, and there have been a number of projects around the world looking to entice people to, say, coastal communities. These have often focused on artists or digital nomads. It was our argument that these newcomers are often resented because they're outsiders, so instead efforts should be focused on those who left communities for school or work and to try and encourage them to return, bringing their skills, capital, and networks with them.
That's a very nutshell version of our findings anyway.
