Manchester-based Andrew Clarke is commercial director of the UK's Business Travel Association
If you judge a book by its length, then the UK government’s close to 400-page tome on 'levelling up' – its plans to close the gap between the richer and poorer areas of the country – is in the running for the Booker shortlist.
The strategy addresses areas such as transport, education, services and the creation of jobs, but looking through the newly published report’s summary it becomes clear that it’s largely a rewrite. Many old policies are simply rehashed and, worryingly, reference to new funding is hard to find.
This is in stark contrast to our international neighbours. In post-unification Germany, for example, the government has spent more than 30 years trying to close the gap in productivity between eastern and western Germany at a cost of almost £70 billion per year.
For decades we have watched the level of investment in London and the South East grow far faster than in the North of England. In transport terms alone, public spending is at over £800 per head in London versus just over £300 per head in the North East of England. This hasn’t changed with this week’s announcement.
Personally, the absence of increased funding for transport infrastructure has been a major bugbear. Indeed, the unveiling of the government's Integrated Rail Plan last November, in which plans for the extension of HS2 between the East Midlands and Leeds were scrapped, was hardly an emphatic signal of intent.
Feeling slightly underwhelmed by the new levelling up headline goals, I delved deeper into the report.
On the surface, there were many promises that might help the business travel community, especially in the North of England. There is a lot of talk about improving pay and productivity – that's mint. Promises flow about providing high-quality training and the need to tackle the post-pandemic skills gap – massive. And it’s sweet Manchester music to my ears to read about bringing public transport closer to London’s standards – sorted.
But when I tried to imagine the impact of these promises on my hometown, Manchester, and on the wider North of England regions, I am struggling to see how we make real progress. Let me explain.
My work regularly takes me up and down the country. If I need to travel to London from Manchester, it’s 1 hour and 55 minutes on the train. If I need to go to Glasgow (still part of the UK last time I checked) it’s 3 hours and 30 minutes. For almost double the journey time, I’ve travelled only an extra six miles.
In London, I can tap in and out with my debit card across the whole transport system. In Manchester, for any multi-modal journeys (all of them), I need cash, card and phone to pay. It’s these real, every day, long-standing discrepancies that must be ‘levelled up’.
Equally, Leeds, Sheffield, Wakefield and Grimsby all face different challenges. Some have found a stronger, clearer voice with the advent of Metro Mayors. Irrespective of their party colours, they fight for their communities and for their particular needs.
For democracy and levelling up the government should look more closely at giving local people the opportunity to have their say on how money should be spent – not tell them what they should spend it on. Acting on first-hand local knowledge leads to resources being more efficiently and effectively spent.
I would love to invite Michael Gove, MP, up to Manchester – the first beers are on me. I want to share with him the views of the business travel industry on the small and large steps necessary to tackle the transport inequalities that are slowing down economic recovery in the regions.
Listening and then acting trumps lip service any day.