Covid has deepened the inequalities between the north and south, study finds

A thinktank has warned, in an ‘urgent wake-up call’ to Boris Johnson that there are deepening inequalities between the north and south of England with little sign of the governments ‘levelling up’ agenda becoming a reality.

The government’s ‘levelling up’ policy lacks any plans a year after the election and following months of further widening between the north and south.

The ‘State of the North’ report, which is released annually, has pointed out gaps in wages, productivity and health between the region.

Covid has also had an ‘uneven impact across England’ says the research was done by thinktank IPPR. Extra restrictions have hit places such as Greater Manchester since the first lockdown, ‘creating new regional inequalities and deepening old ones’.

The pandemic ‘has powerfully demonstrated the weaknesses and cost’ of dictating too much from London and underlined the ‘reluctance of the centre to cede control’.

The research claims that a year after the general election, the ‘levelling up’ agenda is still ‘most striking for its lack of detail’. However, the Treasury has denied such claims.

The annual assessment says, many people in the North ‘already live in a low-wage economy, which is not delivering good outcomes in income, health, or routes out of poverty’.

People in the north west are paid 80p less an hour than the English average but there are also few job opportunities per person across north England when compared to the country as a hole.

Before Covid hit, most northern areas had healthy life expectancies below the English average with 60% of them seeing a decline in that measure for women in the past decade.

By October, unemployment in the north has hit its highest point since 1994, particularly impacted places such as Blackpool, Hull and Middlesborough. 

The report points out the fundamental connection between health and wealth explaining that ‘if the northern economy is to work for people, it needs to support good health in the northern population’.

It goes onto explain that long-term inequalities within England have been thrown ‘into a stark spotlight’ following Covid-19. Adding that any recovery that ‘simply restores the old order’ would be ‘unsustainable and – for many – unacceptable’.

Covid-19 has also created new regional divides and deepened old ones. 

The report states: “Parts of the north of England have seen especially high rates of infection and have been subject to more severe ‘local lockdown’ measures than many other parts of the country.”

Speaking on the ‘levelling up’, something it describes as one of the ‘latest in a long history of initiatives’ that is ‘most striking for its lack of detail on how rebalancing is to be achieved’.

It continues: “Some attempts to deal with England’s regional divides can seem highly politicised, designed with an eye to electoral outcomes, particularly in marginal seats,

“Successive governments have been keen to be seen to take action and to claim credit for any change.

“This has created an unhealthy situation where efforts to tackle regional inequalities and implement devolution have been constrained by an overly controlling hand in Westminster. Covid-19 has powerfully demonstrated the weaknesses and cost of this approach and the reluctance of the centre to cede control to elected leaders in combined and local authorities.”

The report goes onto explain the deep inadequacies in the UK’s centralised system of government, in particular for dealing with a crisis like Covid-19.

“The establishment of a highly centralised and outsourced system of ‘track and trace’, which has repeatedly failed to deliver, has been a prime example of where Whitehall has overlooked local expertise and capacity,” it says. It also criticises the loss of a minister devoted to the Northern Powerhouse.

Sarah Longlands, director of IPPR North, said the government ‘was elected on a promise to level up places like the North’.

“But one year on, they don’t have a plan to reduce inequalities between and within regions in England, and the inadequate, centrally controlled, competitive ‘levelling up fund’ announced in the spending review simply won’t cut it.

A spokesperson for the Treasury explains that the government had spent ‘record sums’ (£280bn) supporting families and jobs throughout the crisis.

The pointed to an increase in the national living wage, as well as a £2bn ‘restart’ scheme to help people avoid long-term unemployment. 

“We are totally committed to levelling up opportunities across the whole of the UK as we build back better,” they said.

“We already taken significant steps including announcing new investment in new green technologies, like carbon capture, which will create thousands of high quality jobs in the North, setting out plans for Freeports to boost growth across the UK, and investing £100 billion in infrastructure to boost growth next year.

“Our new £4 billion Levelling Up fund to support the fabric of everyday life, like highstreets, or train stations, is just one part of a whole of Government commitment.

“In the Treasury that includes reforming the Green Book, which appraises the funding of projects, to focus on regional impact, as well as plans to open a new Treasury office and our new UK infrastructure bank in the North in the coming year.

“The Civil Service as a whole has committed to relocating 22,000 civil service roles outside of London and the South East, as well as a step change in investment in skills to boost people’s chances of success wherever they live.”