Delivering Devolution

Good Growth for Cities

Issue
September 09, 2024

As the Government commits to a new era of devolution, the Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities report looks at the priorities of communities across the UK, and how local leaders can play a greater role in delivering inclusive economic growth in their areas.

Accelerating devolution and providing the right framework for local accountability, we believe, is key to driving inclusive growth across the nation. Outcomes are improved when action is taken at a local level. Over the last year, place-based strategies have gained considerably more traction, and they should continue to do so under the new Government.

This momentum might be a lifeline for cities - the scale and diversity of the current economic challenges facing the UK on housing, education and jobs has grown to levels not seen before. The disparity both between and within UK cities calls for targeted, place-based development strategies that can become the crucial mechanism for local authorities to respond to these challenges. These polarising areas provide the bedrock of financial wellbeing - which has emerged as the UK public's chief concern in this year's Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities report.

Explore good growth for cities

Agenda for action Key findings Your city’s performance View full report

Video

Agenda for action

Countries across the globe are increasingly turning their focus inwards, prioritising their national resilience and localisation as a route to growth. In the UK, with a new government in place, this internal focus has gained renewed energy. The Government's commitment to a new era of devolution fuels hopes of a flurry of new deals that will hand more power down to cities and regions.

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“As local leaders look forward to playing a greater part in delivering economic growth in their areas, they have a window of time to take stock. They must use this time to reassess what their strengths and ambitions are for their areas and how they will grasp the fresh opportunities on the horizon.”

_{Rachel Taylor

Leader of Industry for Government and Health Industries, PwC UK}

Key findings

The ongoing squeeze on living standards sees the UK public focus primarily on economic or finance focused measures - with income, jobs and housing all seeing an increase on last year in relative importance. Along with health, these have seen the largest improvements from last year’s Index.

On the other hand, the public is less concerned this year with income distribution, skills and the environment. This is partially due to the shift away from the pandemic, where there was a heightened focus on gaining skills and education in lieu of employment opportunities and the increased attention that was made during this time towards the UK’s Net Zero commitments.

Plymouth and Bristol rise significantly to first and second place in this year’s Index, with Southampton remaining strong in third place. Plymouth does well on income distribution, work-life balance and jobs to secure first place. Bristol similarly performs well on jobs and work-life balance, also scoring highly on skills.

Though the tough macroeconomic environment has affected real economic growth across the UK, we expect a rosier outlook for several cities. The UK economy is recovering slowly and steadily, and we expect economic growth to bounce back this year and to continue on into 2025. Cardiff, Ipswich and London, for example, are all expected to see growth of at least 1.1% this year and 1.8% in 2025.