When the Chancellor unveiled her Spending Review on 11 June, she simultaneously published the Guidance for Mayoral Strategic Authorities on developing Local Growth Plans. These are the key documents to be prepared by the 13 Mayoral regions and are intended to be a major driver for boosting the Government’s growth agenda.

Short-term growth from long-term projects 

On October 22, Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander became the umpteenth Minister to announce a major expansion of Heathrow Airport; it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe this is because – at the most optimistic timeline, the third runway project will take ten years, cost billions and arouse fierce controversy. Its advocates will champion its potential for significant economic growth; opponents will claim that it compromises our decarbonisation strategies and the transition to a net zero economy.

 

But if we leave these arguments aside, and just accept that the project – and its myriad spin-offs - will stimulate economic growth, how does one leverage this long-term investment to create more immediate, short-term benefits? Is it even possible? Does one have to wait until a Development Consent Order (DCO) is firmly awarded before planning to exploit the new wealth-generating activity it unleashes? It is more than a theoretical dilemma. As Combined Authorities obtain major powers to build and update local infrastructures – and the funding sources to pay for it – they have to strike a difficult balance between short-term initiatives and these long-term investments. Not for the first time, politicians and elected Mayors have to choose between competing priorities? Short-term tactical ‘wins’ versus Long-term strategic ‘gains’

 

Can one do both?

 

It is helpful to look at some of the more ambitious projects now being developed and incorporated into Local Growth Plans.

• Mersey Tidal: - an ambitious £6bn scheme to build the world’s largest tidal power scheme on the River Mersey – with 84% public support in last year’s consultation
• Liverpool to Manchester Railway – a £20bn proposal for a new dedicated railway line designed to open up a ‘Northern arc’ growth corridor opening up £90bn in cumulative value by 2040
• The West Yorkshire Mass transit scheme – seeking £2.5bn initial funding to connect Bradford and Leeds and surrounding areas
• Universal Studios, East-West Rail and a likely Tempsford New Town - all close to Bedford.

These, and many more initiatives are, by their very nature, long-term. Investment today – but with difficult-to-forecast and diffuse benefits sometime in the future. And not always in predictable patterns. The old rules of accountancy appear less and less relevant. With changing patterns of employment, skill categories that barely existed a decade ago, innovative revenue streams and unforeseeable impacts of ‘clustering’, attempts to forecast conventional ROI are speculative to say the least. Proceeding with big projects becomes less a matter of “Green-book’ science and more the art of having a sense of strategic direction.

Many of these headline projects have a ‘bottom-up’ flavour to them, and are already attracting positive local support – even before funding is secured. Is it not more attractive for private capital investors to build something local people want rather than negotiate with central Government to pay for a project which local people oppose? In a sense, it matters less whether Liverpool gets to build its tidal barrage, than for its Strategic Authority to take the initiative and actively look for projects it wants to undertake – whether to enhance its environment, exploit its natural resources, leverage its sporting heritage, its university know-how, or just develop its tourist industry.

All you need to galvanise communities are a few high-profile projects which people identify with. The fact that their ultimate benefits are some years away, will not prevent imaginative business-builders from seeking ‘anticipatory opportunities’. Walk the streets of Bedford this month and you’ll find young people dreaming up ways to benefit from the forthcoming investment by Universal Studios. Housebuilders are already queuing up.

Westco sees local empowerment as being critical. At its recent Roundtable “Regional Place-Making for Economic Growth.” several Combined Authorities confirmed that the way to secure dedicated focus and build confidence in local capabilities and capacities is through convincing ‘storytelling.’ Attracting serious investment is no longer a matter of a spreadsheet’s arithmetic but more about presenting our cities and regions as places that deserve to be supported.

 

Reputation matters. Cambridge has over 5,000 innovation-driven companies, dozens of research parks and strong university-industry linkages. It was recently named the world’s most “intensive science and technology cluster” by the Global Innovation Index. Now it has a Ten-year blueprint for an Innovation Hub, and the building-blocs are surely there for significant economic growth.

 

Other parts of the UK also have tremendous assets and are capable of building Growth strategies that harness the support of local politicians, business leaders, academia and the community sector. It means that ‘branding’ has to move beyond superficial, cosmetic image-creation and reflect an area’s virtues, values and heritage. To do that, Councils need to learn how best to engage constructively with local stakeholders and to inspire them to seek economic development for themselves – not wait for a remote Government to do it for them.

 

In this way, it’s quicker – and more likely to happen…

 

Author: 

Rhion Jones is the co-founder of The Consultation Institute and has been monitoring consultation case law since 2008. He has published 50+ commentaries on specific judicial reviews and delivered over 100 courses on the Law of Consultation. Rhion currently provides government and C-suite advice and guidance under his trading name, The Consultation Guru.