Fuel poverty in rural areas This is a key moment for those 3.2 million households still suffering from fuel poverty, let alone the millions more households set to be afflicted by crippling hikes in energy fees from April 2022 when the price cap is lifted. This will demand a further reset for government in seeking […]
Localis’s new research project Mapping a route to local clean growth – clearing the path to net zero will cast a keenly objective eye – following publication of the Government’s Net Zero strategy and in the aftermath of nationally-binding commitments cast at the COP26 summit – into how local actors in our regions are readying […]
Like ‘Building Back Better’ or ‘Levelling Up’, the ambitious cross-government Net Zero Strategy risks a fate as a vapid if effective slogan if the overriding domestic political issues, the long-term failures in economic, energy and social policy are not addressed at the level of place. According to the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy, central and […]
In Q4 2020 there was a 13.7% high street vacancy rate and a 17.3% shopping centre vacancy rate. The early months of 2021 saw a 68.3% year-on-year decline in high street footfall and a 4.9% decline in retail sales volume. In January 2021, the proportion of money spent online was 35.2%, the highest on record. […]
As one of only three regions of the country to be net contributors to the Exchequer, the role of the South East region in advancing the levelling up agenda for national renewal remains pivotal. Resetting the South East investigates the role of the South East region in Levelling Up, and what is necessary for its […]
The Levelling Up White Paper, released in February 2022, represents the most significant, comprehensive and wide-reaching UK government statement on devolution, geographic inequality and regional political economy in at least a decade. The paper filled the intellectual void at the heart of the ubiquitous Levelling Up Agenda with a theory of disparities between places and […]
Public procurement and outsourcing have great potential when managed well, with the volume of public sector spend across the country creating many opportunitites to advance strategic economic goals. Unfortunately, for decades, successive governments have been unable to tap systematically into this potential. Now, free of the EU rulebook, with reforms on the way and a newfound […]
The UK is experiencing more extreme weather events including flooding and rising sea-levels. The planning system must absorb and adapt to new circumstances wrought by climate change, with flooding a particular area of concern. This is most clearly manifest at the local level, where multiple pressures arise from the twin challenges of increasing housing supply […]
Meeting the net zero target is one of largest, most complex, and cross-cutting challenges that governments face. Many countries have committed to reaching net zero by 2050. To do so, governments must organise their policies for the major delivery challenge of net zero, unprecedented in both scale and speed required. The challenge of reaching net […]
The relationship between the levelling up agenda and London has been the subject of intense scrutiny, both inside and outside of the city. The Local London subregion – comprising the boroughs in East and North East London – presents a clear problematisation of the often-presented view of London as a universally prosperous economic monolith. Local London and […]