Levelling up the country or levelling up our city?

The Government’s Levelling Up strategy aims to:

• Boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector
• Spread opportunities and improve public services
• Restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging
• Empower local leaders and communities

Whilst the Levelling Up strategy aims to empower local leaders to support their communities, the current systems of governance sometimes work against it. This is because organisations with common local interests are accountable to different parts of national government and its agencies.  

To support this, it has promised devolution deals for every part of England that wants one, including a deeper deal for the West Midlands and a re-wiring of central government so that all departments are held to account for their impact on local areas.  

Leaders often find this difficult to navigate because they want to support their local community, but it may not be to the advantage of their organisation. The promise of further devolution and joined-up accountability may help, but the approach to this remains uncertain.     

This panel discussion will:

• Share experiences and insights from West Midlands leaders working in local authorities, schools and universities on how they are balancing the interests of their organisations and local communities
• Debate what local and national leaders could to ensure that communities are better supported
• Hear directly from the audience on their priorities for local authorities and education in their local area. 

Host or Publisher ESRC IAA - University of Birmingham