Regional and local governments have been buffeted by a series of crises – austerity, the pandemic, and more recently, the cost of living and stagnant growth. This has made the already difficult task of tackling inequality between, and within places harder. The challenge of ‘levelling up’ and delivering improvements in local economies that can drive sustained improvements for local communities, remains as entrenched and hard to grip as ever.

There is wide recognition across the political spectrum of the urgent need to support places to rebuild their economies, create jobs and deliver foundation services that will improve living standards. However, the national policy environment matters.

Planning for different political scenarios

In an election year, likely to bring political change, understanding and preparing for policy shifts will be key. NEF is delivering a new strategy briefing on levelling up through political uncertainty that will equip local leaders and practitioners with an understanding of:

• The new political scenarios likely to emerge after the general election.
• The impact on devolution and local economic development agendas of each scenario.
• Exploiting the opportunities and mitigating the risks.

About the briefing

The three-hour briefing will provide the insights and tools to prepare and lead through political uncertainty and change. Participants can be from one authority or drawn from across a group of authorities but we are advising a maximum group size of six people.

Fully participative, with group discussions, the three-hour session will cover:

• An overview of the political landscape and different scenarios in the election year, based on polling data.
• Scenario planning. What it means for the devolution and inclusive economy agenda under each of three likely scenarios.
• The likely policy agenda, opportunities and risks for each scenario.
• A deep dive into how to respond to opportunities and risks that a specific scenario presents for your authority.
• Next steps for action planning.

The briefing can be delivered online or, for an additional cost, on site. I hope leaders in local government will use the briefing to prepare for the likely policy changes.

To find out more, see our training pages or contact us.