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Five leading organisations representing and advocating the growth of cities across England, today called for a renewed vision and commitment for the economic development of England’s cities.

Responding to this week’s “Cities Unlimited” report by Policy Exchange, the group rejected a model of economic development dependent on mass migration and “palliative care” for many cities outside the South East.

The heads of the Core Cities Group, Northern Way, Centre for Cities, New Local Government Network and Centre for Local Economic Strategies instead called for a mature debate on the future of England’s towns and cities, focused on securing continued economic success and structural change. They also argued for a more balanced view of cities outside the South East – many of which have achieved growth rates higher than the country as a whole in recent years.

Chris Murray, Director of the Core Cities Group (comprising Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield) said:

“We recognise that London has driven prosperity across the south east, but the eight Core Cities’ city regions have a collective economy that is already bigger than London’s, at 25.5% of national output. Are Policy Exchange really suggesting that we can simply move that output to the South East intact? What is more likely is that such policies would empty cities of their 20% most qualified people, overheat the south east, create more deprivation and vast expense to the public purse. Its not just that these cities are important to the economy, we simply do not have a viable economy without them”.

Chris Murray continued:

“The headline conclusions of the report cannot be taken seriously, but there are some important questions raised by Policy Exchange. How can we empower our cities to perform better economically, what are the key drivers of growth in a shifting economic environment and how can we work together to create a different, ambitious vision for the future of our great cities? We would welcome a mature debate on these issues.”

The Centre for Cities think tank works in many of these cities.

Adam Marshall, Head of Policy at the Centre for Cities said:

“Policy Exchange is right to look for radical solutions to the continuing economic gap between Britain’s cities. But we should not write off the North, or encourage a mass migration toward the greater South East. Policy should be focused on building up regional economic hubs outside London – such as Leeds and Manchester – and on improving transport and economic links across the North and the Midlands. However, they’re absolutely right to call for more devolution to towns and cities. The best way to improve city economies is to give city leaders the financial and political powers to make the decisions which are right for them.”

The Northern Way brings together the regions and city-regions of the North of England, to promote the economic development, and to encourage collaboration.

Its Director Andrew Lewis said:

“The description of the Northern cities and regions set out by policy exchange is not supported by the evidence. Many have been growing faster than the UK has a whole, creating new jobs, and attracting substantial private sector investment. An active role from the public sector has helped to secure structural change, moving their economies on from the out-of-date characterisation presented by Policy Exchange. This effort needs to be sustained, not abandoned.”.

The report suggests that many English cities will never regenerate, and instead advocates 1 million houses being built in each of London, Oxford and Cambridge.

Chris Leslie, Director of the New Local Government Network said:

“An overheated London is not in the interests of Londoners or the UK at large. Instead of encouraging the concentration of Britain’s talent and industry to cram into the capital, public policy should be building up the nation’s capacity especially outside the south east. The Government – whatever party is in control – should be aiming for prosperity in all regions and nations, not merely putting all efforts into one corner of the country.”

Chris Murray said:

“We are keenly aware that there is persistent deprivation in some of the cities mentioned in the report, but the ‘north-south divide story’ isn’t really an accurate description of England. In reality the economic divide is more within individual cities, between the haves and have nots, including areas of London and the south east, and this is what we should be working to tackle. Oxford and Cambridge are vital centres of learning, but we would be wise not to forget that many great learning institutions with international pedigree exist elsewhere in England.”

Sarah Longlands, Director of Policy at the Centre for Local Economic Strategies said:

“The questions which underlie the report are extremely important, particularly around inequality, the autonomy of local areas to manage their own economic destiny and the gap in skills and opportunities which exists between cities in the UK. However, the report employs a narrow definition of success focusing on the hard measures of economic regeneration such as GVA. Successful urban regeneration requires a more sophisticated mix of strengthening employment and skills development, improvements in quality of life and community wellbeing”

Andrew Lewis said:

“Sustainable economic development cannot be secured through a policy of mass internal migration, without profound economic and social consequences both for expanding and contracting communities – all of which would require substantial investment of public funds. A policy mix which supports the continued regeneration of the North, building on success and reflecting market conditions, offers a more compelling and sustainable economic future for the country as a whole”.

The Core Cities Group (www.corecities.com) is a long-standing economic collaboration between Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. It is focused on the economic development and regeneration of these places.

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (www.cles.org.uk) is an independent thinking and doing organisation specialising in regeneration and economic development

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