Read: Strong council leadership can play a vital role in delivering social mobility
The success of organisations at times of change is reliant on strong and strategic leadership. That is as true of local authorities as it is of business and, indeed, central government. A new generation of leaders are propelling the most progressive councils to offer the same commitment and authenticity to ensuring that they deliver for the public good. Having a strong purpose helps them focus on what their communities and stakeholders need, especially at difficult times.
At the Purpose Coalition, we have been working with some of the most ambitious local authorities where levelling up - the need to ensure that everyone, no matter what their background, has equality of opportunity in a fairer society – is a key priority. It’s a huge challenge but one which is much more effective delivered at a local level, by those who know their communities best. Their work is benchmarked against a framework of 14 Levelling Up Goals which cover key life stages as well as the barriers that can prevent people from accessing opportunity. That highlights good practice and identifies where there are still gaps.
Here are some examples of our Levelling Up Councils Coalition Leaders:
Councillor Louise McKinlay, Deputy Leader of Essex Country Council
Louise and her team worked closely with the Purpose Coalition on a Levelling Up Impact Report which helped to inform Essex County Council’s (ECC) own Levelling Up White Paper, Everyone’s Essex, which sets out its approach to support everyone in Essex to have the same access to opportunity. It’s a prosperous county but with approximately 123,000 people living in the most deprived 20% of places in England, it illustrates the complexity of social mobility - that disadvantaged communities exist, often in plain sight of wealthier ones.
Louise sees the role of public services as responding to the needs of these places and people, and the role of the local authority to lead that response. That’s not just because it’s the right thing to do - no one should be disadvantaged because of their circumstances – but it’s also the smart thing to do economically, so that everyone has the opportunity to go as far as their talent and hard work can take them. There’s also recognition that some parts of the population will require more help – children on free school meals, people of all ages with mental health conditions, SEND or learning disabilities and young people unemployed for a significant period of time.
ECC’s approach is to support good jobs, a high-quality environment, educational attainment and skills, healthy and active lifestyles and strong and resilient families and communities. The first initiatives were focused on the latter, including a £500,000 Community Challenge Fund that will provide access to small grants for communities in six priority areas, a financial wellbeing programme, the establishment of a Family Friendly Employers Charter working with employers to promote flexible, family friendly working practices and the continuation of the Essex Holiday Activity Clubs.
More recently it has announced investment bids which include a transport package for one of its priority areas, Tendring, to help residents access services and jobs. It will include new opportunities created by redevelopment proposals as part of the Freeport East initiative, the rollout of an electric, on-demand minibus service and cycling route improvements which will help connect residents with employment and training opportunities across rural areas. Funding for other projects across the county will support stronger infrastructure, good jobs, improving connectivity and centre regeneration.
Councillor Toby Johnson, Lead Member for Levelling Up and Skills, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
One of the UK’s newest local authorities, and the tenth biggest, Toby’s appointment in a new role as Lead Member for Levelling Up and Skills is an indication of how important Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council views its mission to target support to those who need it most.
In an area which has the reputation of being attractive and prosperous, with a thriving £10bn economy, BCP’s focus is very much on the nine pockets which are among the most deprived in England. Its vision of an area of vibrant communities with a good quality of life cannot be achieved if infrastructural and societal inequalities mean that not all residents can contribute as much as their potential should allow.
The Council aims to establish the foundations for a sustainable future, with a focus on what matters most to their customers and what adds most value to their lives. Its top priorities are affordable housing, cost of living, skills shortages and low skill attainment, health inequalities and disparities between wards, transport links including cycling and infrastructure. Under Toby’s leadership, it has worked with the Purpose Coalition on a Levelling Up Impact Report to assess how effectively it is delivering a positive social impact and to be clearer about where the gaps are in achieving equality of opportunity. The report demonstrates that it is already engaged in work right across the Goals but is particularly focusing on those that align with the five projects featured in its Big Plan and which are underpinned by the work it does with communities, culture and children.
Much of its work is interlinked and it works closely with local stakeholders. The creation of a 0-19 Team and a focus on SEND children means that there is comprehensive support from early years all the way through to higher education but that is also extended across into adult education, with a recognition that it is never too late for those whose original education experience was poor. An increase in green spaces, harnessing the energy transition so that it works for everyone and an intention to better understand the challenges of a diverse new generation are further examples of its ambition to achieve social change.
BCP is also leading work on tracking and measuring its progress, using a range of national and local metrics that could be used across the country. Successful levelling up is dependent on knowing the extent of the impact you’re making and BCP’s ambition is to be as transparent as possible in its efforts to make a difference locally.
Councillor Darren Rodwell, Leader of Barking & Dagenham Council, Deputy Leader of London Councils
Darren has always maintained that genuine levelling up of the country means looking beyond the traditional geographic areas of disadvantage to target those which are overlooked because they are hidden within areas of great privilege and wealth.
Nowhere is that more true than London. The City of London generates nearly £70 billion in economic output annually. It is associated with opportunity but its residents often face barriers which prevent them from accessing it. Barking and Dagenham has the highest unemployment rate in the country and one of the highest rates of child poverty. It suffered particularly badly during the pandemic, economically and socially, as a result of high-density housing, overcrowding and health inequalities. Between March 2020 and March 2021, economic inactivity increased from a quarter to nearly a third (30.2%) of the borough’s population. The cost of living crisis has the potential to drastically increase poverty, debt and inequality still further.
Yet London growth is moving eastwards and Barking and Dagenham is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that will bring. The development of Barking Town Centre will also provide more commercial space, new housing, schools, community health and leisure facilities.
Barking and Dagenham Council (LBBD) is currently engaging with residents to develop its Inclusive Growth Strategy 2022-2026 which will set out plans to boost the local economy, enhance the borough and improve their lives. It aims to tackle economic and social barriers, including a lack of skills, employment prospects and suitable housing options, and offer a more prosperous future, particularly for the most vulnerable and those whose voices are often unheard. The strategy focuses on four key areas – a thriving and inclusive economy, supporting local businesses and attracting new ones to improve employment opportunities, including for vulnerable residents and those new to the labour market; resilient and safe neighbourhoods which also offer residents the social and physical infrastructure needed to transform the borough, from public transport to new schools and green spaces; the provision of a range of housing options that will also tackle overcrowding and homelessness; the establishment of a Net Zero cleaner, greener borough with a commitment to making it carbon neutral by 2030.
By working collaboratively with residents, local businesses and partners, LBBD is aiming to deliver a brighter economic future. It will be working with the Purpose Coalition over the next few months on a Levelling Up Impact Report to assess how its current work is making a positive impact on its communities and where that impact could be extended even further to drive better social mobility in London.
Councillor Izzi Seccombe OBE, Leader of Warwickshire County Council
Under Izzy’s leadership, Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) vision of levelling up will spread opportunity, embed aspiration and tackle disparities. The county has a strong economy, good services and mature partnerships but it also has pockets of deprivation and there are clear disparities on issues such as educational attainment, life expectancy at birth, crime rate and digital connectivity. That means there is also disparity of opportunity and WCC is determined to bring the weakest places up to the level of the strongest while also contributing to levelling up the country more broadly.
The Council has embarked on a determinedly data-driven approach and its Levelling Up Plan will be evidence led, with the creation of a new Levelling Up Advisory Council and the introduction of a statutory duty for local authorities to publish an annual progress report and a programme of activity which will be subject to regular review. It is committed to six key principles – a joint mission and holistic approach, a long-term approach, addressing the root causes, strengths based, data driven and targeted and tailored to communities of place and interest.
It understands that its priorities should make sense locally and it is working hard with its partners to bring its communities along with it, testing out its analysis with a residents panel and a youth council. Residents’ priorities for improving the place they live are access to health provision, levels of safety and improved high streets and town centres although there is some variation at a district and borough level. The feedback from younger people is that they want to see skills provision, improved transport connections, town centre regeneration as well as important recognition of the need for engagement with business on how social value and corporate social responsibility can support levelling up and young people.
Izzy’s Team Warwickshire is aiming to achieve long term, generational changes with the first targets set for 2030. As with social mobility more widely, the issue is longstanding and complex but its determination to tackle the root causes of inequality alongside its willingness to work closely with local stakeholders will mean that it is an authentic reflection of what its communities want. Working with the Purpose Coalition on a Levelling Up Impact report over the coming months will also focus attention on the success of its approach and how best it can address the gaps in opportunity that remain.
