Gove: Levelling Up invitation to ‘join forces for the common good’

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove has written to the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland following the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper.

In the letters the Secretary of State for Levelling Up:

discusses the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper
calls for the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to work with the UK government to overcome shared challenges

The Scottish Government is yet to respond.

LEVELLING UP: REACTION

Responding to the publication of the levelling up white paper, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “If we don’t level up at work, we won’t level up the country.

“But the government has failed to provide a serious plan to deliver decent well-paid jobs, in the parts of the UK that need them most.

“Insecure work and low pay are rife in modern Britain. And for far too many families hard work no longer pays.

“With the country facing a cost-of-living crisis, working families need action now to improve jobs and boost pay packets – especially after more than a decade of lost pay.

“Ministers should have announced a plan to get real wages rising – starting with a proper pay rise for all our key workers and the introduction of fair pay deals for low-paid industries.

“And they should have delivered the long-awaited employment bill to ban zero hours contracts – as well as new, meaningful investment in skills and good green jobs of the future.

“Without a plan to deliver decent work up and down the country, millions will struggle on, on low wages, and with poor health and prospects.”

Recent polling published by the TUC found the British public’s number one priority for levelling up is more and better jobs.

The TUC polling, conducted by YouGov, reveals that the most popular priority for levelling up, chosen by one in two Britons, is increasing the number and quality of jobs available.

Increasing the number and quality of jobs is popular across the political spectrum. Half (49 per cent) of those who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election picked it as their top priority, along with more than half of Labour voters (56 per cent) and Lib Dem voters (54 per cent).

Matthew Fell, CBI Chief Policy Director, said: “The Levelling Up White Paper is a serious assessment of the regional inequalities which have hamstrung the UK’s economic potential for generations.

“It offers a blueprint for how government can be rewired and an encouraging basis for how the private sector can bring the investment and innovation to start overcoming those deep-rooted challenges, and power long term prosperity for every community, wherever they live.

“The picture it paints of a reinvigorated 2030 UK can inspire public and private sector partners to unite on shared missions for improving health, wealth, growth and opportunity across the country.

“Crucially, it accepts the CBI view that business-driven economic clusters – enabling every region and nation to build its own unique competitiveness proposition – can be a catalyst which brings levelling up ambitions to life.”

University of Birmingham’s John Bryson on the Levelling Up announcement: “The UK has always suffered from uneven development and this is reflected in all measures of well-being – from salaries to place-based differences in mortality rates and morbidity.

“There is no country on this planet that does not suffer from some form of uneven place-based outcomes. The implication is that any attempt to remove place-based uneven outcomes will and must fail. The policy outcome might mean some alteration in the extent or degree of unevenness, but unevenness will continue to persist.

“No political party will be able to develop effective solutions to create a level playing field. Nevertheless, this does not mean that policies should not be designed to support and facilitate some form of more even development. However, the outcome will still be the persistence of uneven outcomes.

“The key to any levelling-up agenda is to accept that every place is different and that there are multiple alternative place-based pathways; London can never become Newcastle and Newcastle can never become London.

“The levelling-up agenda needs to be positioned around a debate that is not based on closing the gap between the richer and poorer part of the country, but instead must be framed around facilitating place-based responsible inclusive prosperity.

“This must be the focus as any policy targeted at economic growth can never be sustainable. The levelling-up policy initiative ultimately must be designed to encourage inclusive carbon-light lifestyles. One implication is that levelling-up might also require some degree of levelling-down.”

Campbell Robb, Nacro chief executive said: “We know tackling poverty and inequality is key to levelling up. For over 50 years Nacro has been embedded in communities helping some of our nation’s most vulnerable people through our housing, education, and justice services.

“We see a huge amount of unmet need in our country. We need radical change to the systems that support people and significant funding to address this need, not just ambitions and slogans.

“Until there is right support, opportunity, and funding in place for everyone to succeed regardless of the circumstances, we cannot truly claim to be levelling up”

Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “We now know what levelling up is – George Osborne plus New Labour.

“The White Paper is all about combining the devolution of the former Conservative Chancellor, with the bigger and more activist state focused on deprived areas of the last Labour government.

“There is a strong case for both. Whether they can be delivered very much remains to be seen.”

Responding to the publication of Government’s Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper, Social Mobility Commission Chair Katharine Birbalsingh and Deputy Chair Alun Francis said: “We welcome the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper, and the fact that it gives a clear framework to address disparities between regions and communities.

“These communities are full of talented individuals and we must do everything we can to empower them to thrive. Each of the missions the paper sets out are hugely important, and it is crucial that checks and balances are in place to ensure that local government bodies, both existing and new, are held to account for their delivery.

“The Commission has been clear that social mobility must be a core objective of levelling up. We are pleased to see that equipping young people with the tools they need to succeed in life is at the heart of this strategy, and that it includes measures that can contribute to social mobility through every stage of a young person’s journey, from early childhood through education, training and employment.

“The missions are aspirational and pose the right questions, but are also hugely ambitious. The test will be in the detail and the implementation – not just boosting skills, but which skills will be taught and how; not just aiming for essential literacy and numeracy, but defining the most effective ways to achieve them.

“Ultimately, levelling up will be judged on how well it creates opportunities in places they did not exist before. A key test will be how we help those with the fewest opportunities find decent work – this is not just about stories of rags-to-riches. More still needs to be done to stimulate the creation of much-needed quality private sector jobs in the most deprived areas.

“As the Social Mobility Commission we stand ready to work with the government to flesh out that detail, advise on the best ways to make these missions a reality, and ensure that levelling up empowers people up and down the country to stand on their own two feet.”

Finally, after months of delays, the levelling up White Paper is out! So was it worth the wait?

Levelling Up White Paper leaves low paid workers behind

As the TUC has argued, you can’t level up without levelling up at work. In-work poverty, driven by the prevalence of low-paid and insecure work, is sky-high in every region and nation of the UK. This reflects the fact that low-paid sectors, such as retail and social care, are major employers in every area of the country (writes TUC’s JANET WILLIAMSON).

And more and better jobs is the public’s top priority for levelling up, with recent polling for the TUC conducted by YouGov finding that increasing the number and quality of jobs is seen as a priority for levelling up by one in two people from right across the political spectrum. Does the White Paper deliver this?

The White Paper sets out 12 missions – or aims – spanning living standards, R&D, transport, digital connectivity, education, skills, health, well-being, pride in place, housing, crime and local leadership. There is not a specific mission on work, but the living standards mission is “By 2030, pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, and the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.”

So, what is the plan for achieving this?

In a nutshell, it is to grow the private sector and improve its ability to create new and better paid jobs. There are five strategies to support this aim, all of which fall under a typical ‘industrial strategy’ umbrella: improving SME’s access to finance; boosting institutional investment, including from the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and the recently established National Infrastructure Bank; attracting foreign direct investment and using trade policy, in particular freeports, to boost investment; improving the diffusion of technologies and innovation; and supporting and growing the manufacturing sector.

There are some important questions to be answered in relation to some of these strategies; for example, it is vital that the LGPS is invested in the long-term interests of its members, without its funds being diverted towards other purposes. And each deserves proper examination in its own right.

But what they have in common is that all of them aim to create a better distribution of well-paid and highly skilled jobs around the country. This is needed – but what about the jobs that people are already in? There is no plan to address inequality within the labour market and nothing to level up work that is low paid and insecure.

The experience of London shows that the prevalence of high-paid jobs does not automatically lead to rising incomes for the wider community. Indeed, London has the highest rate of in-work poverty in the country, with people in low-paying service sector jobs priced out of housing and local amenities.

To level up, we must tackle low pay and insecurity head on, and focus on those sectors that need it most.

We need to strengthen the floor of employment protection for all workers by raising the minimum wage and tackling zero hours contracts. And the government should lead by example, giving public sector workers a proper pay rise and reversing the devastating cuts that public services have suffered in the last decade. Decent jobs should be a requirement of all government procurement, so that the power of government is used to drive up employment standards.

But we also need to change the way our economy works to hardwire decent work into business models and economic growth. Relying on the private sector to level up without changing how it works will fail. We need corporate governance reform to rebalance corporate priorities and give working people a fair share of the wealth they create. And we need a new skills settlement to give working people access to lifelong learning accounts and a right to retrain.

Levelling up at work means addressing the imbalance of power in the workplace

Working people need stronger rights to organise collectively in unions and bargain with their employer. Collective bargaining promotes higher pay, better training, safer and more flexible workplaces and greater equality – exactly what we need to level up at work. Unions should have access to workplaces to tell people about the benefits of unions, following the New Zealand model.

And to level up we must tackle entrenched low pay and poor conditions within sectors head on, bringing unions and employers together to set sectoral Fair Pay Agreements for low paid sectors, starting with social care.

Creating new and better jobs is important; but this Levelling Up White Paper has left those in low paid, insecure work behind.

Levelling Up: More than a slogan?

Government finally unveils ten year plan that ‘will transform UK’

Twelve bold national levelling up missions, given status in law, will shift government focus and resources to Britain’s forgotten communities throughout 2020s
Biggest shift of power from Whitehall to local leaders in modern times announced – every part of England to get ‘London style’ powers and mayor if they wish to
Starting gun fired on decade-long project to level up Britain, with radical new policies announced across the board
Domestic public investment in Research & Development to increase by at least 40% across the North, Midlands, South West, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

Today (2 February 2022) the Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove will unveil the government’s flagship Levelling Up White Paper. This document will set out a plan to transform the UK by spreading opportunity and prosperity to all parts of it.

The White Paper will set out a complete ‘system change’ of how government works that will be implemented to level up the UK.

At the heart of this new way of making and implementing policy will be 12 ‘bold, national missions’ – all quantifiable and to be achieved by 2030.

These missions (in full below) are the policy objectives for levelling up, and thus form the heart of the government’s agenda for the 2020s. They will be given status in law in a flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

These missions will be cross-government, cross-society efforts. The first mission, for instance, will see pay, employment, and productivity grow everywhere, and the disparities between the top and worst performing areas narrow. This is the first time a government has placed narrowing spatial economic disparities at the heart of its agenda before.

The Research & Development (R&D) mission will see domestic public R&D investment outside the Greater South East increase by at least 40% by 2030, with these funds leveraging a huge increase in private investment in these areas too.

By 2030, other missions will see:

the rest of the country’s local public transport systems becoming much closer to London standards
the large majority of the country gain access to 5G broadband
illiteracy and innumeracy in primary school leavers effectively eliminated – focussing the government’s education efforts on the most disadvantaged parts of the country

Other missions will see: hundreds of thousands more people completing high quality skills training every year, gross disparities in healthy life expectancy narrowed, the number of poor quality rented homes halved, the most run down town centres and communities across the country rejuvenated, a significant decrease in serious crime in the most blighted areas, and every part of England getting a ‘London-style’ devolution deal if they wish to.

The UK government will do whatever it can to achieve these missions. Government’s resources, energy, and focus throughout the 2020s will be re-oriented around achieving them – and thus squarely focussed on helping the people and parts of the country most struggling. Whilst the missions are UK-wide ambitions, in the many instances where they are driven by devolved policy levers, the UK government wishes to work hand in hand with the devolved governments to achieve them.

The missions will be underpinned by a suite of public metrics to track progress and monitor the evolution of spatial disparities. The UK government will legislate such that it has a statutory duty to publish an annual report updating the public on the progress of these missions, with a new Levelling Up Advisory Council including members such as Sir Paul Collier, renowned economist at Oxford’s Blavatnik’s School of Government, providing further support and constructive analysis.

Other parts of the ‘system change’ include: all policy across Whitehall being aligned with the levelling up agenda and therefore subject to spatial analysis, and a transformation of the government’s approach to data and evaluation – with a new independent body created to improve transparency of local government performance.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: “The United Kingdom is an unparalleled success story. We have one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic economies. Ours is the world’s most spoken language. We have produced more Nobel Prize winners than any country other than America.

“But not everyone shares equally in the UK’s success. For decades, too many communities have been overlooked and undervalued. As some areas have flourished, others have been left in a cycle of decline. The UK has been like a jet firing on only one engine.

“Levelling Up and this White Paper is about ending this historic injustice and calling time on the postcode lottery.

“This will not be an easy task, and it won’t happen overnight, but our 12 new national levelling up missions will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK, so that where you live will no longer determine how far you can go.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “From day one, the defining mission of this government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities.

“The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight, but this White Paper is the next crucial step.

“It is a vision for the future that will see public spending on R&D increased in every part of the country; transport connectivity improving; faster broadband in every community; life expectancies rising; violent crime falling; schools improving; and private sector investment being unleashed.

“It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen and it will ensure that the government continues to rise to the challenge and deliver for the people of the UK.”

‘Huge shift of power’ from Whitehall to local leaders

The UK government recognises that if it tries to level up the UK alone, it will fail. That is why the White Paper will detail the largest devolution of power from Whitehall to local leaders across England in modern times.

The government recognises the strong local leadership mayors like Andy Street, Ben Houchen and Andy Burnham have shown, and wishes to replicate this success across England.

Fundamental to this ‘devolution revolution’ will be a new model for England with more mayors for those areas that want one.

The UK Government will invite the first 9 areas to agree new county deals and seek to agree further MCA deals, extending devolution across England. The first 9 areas invited to begin negotiations will be Cornwall, Derbyshire & Derby, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, Durham, Hull & East Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire & Nottingham, and Suffolk.

The White Paper announces negotiations for a new Mayoral Combined Authority deal for York and North Yorkshire and expanded Mayoral Combined Authority deal for the North East, as well as negotiations for ‘trailblazer’ devolution deals with the West Midlands and Greater Manchester to extend their powers – with these deals acting as blueprints for other Mayoral Combined Authorities to follow.

By 2030, every part of England that wishes to have a ‘London-style’ devolution deal will have one.

The local devolution mission is relevant in England only, but the wider policy programme will see decentralisation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to local areas in Scotland and Wales.

‘Radical new policy’ to level up announced

The White Paper represents a long term plan to transform the UK, but it also sets out the first steps the government is taking to achieve this:

Boosting pay and productivity, especially in places where they are lagging

To contribute towards domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East increasing by at least 40% by 2030, the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have committed to invest at least 55% of their domestic R&D funding outside the Greater South East by 2024/5. Commitments to increase public investment have been made by DHSC, MOD, DfT and Defra. For instance, the Department for Health and Social Care will be increasing their medical research investment outside London, Oxford and Cambridge.
The White Paper also announces 3 new Innovation Accelerators, major place-based centres of innovation, centred on Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and Glasgow-City Region. These clusters of innovation will see local businesses and researchers in these areas backed by £100 million of new government funding to turbo-charge local growth, learning from the MIT-Greater Boston and Stanford-Silicon Valley models.
The document further sets out the government’s intention to mobilise £16 billion of the Local Government Pension Scheme for investments in local projects – recognising that too much at present is invested outside the UK.
The government will fund ambitious plans for bus improvements in areas where this can make the most impact, including the mayoral city-regions, Stoke-on-Trent, Derbyshire and Warrington.

Spreading opportunities and improving public services, especially where they are weakest

55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs) will be designated in local authorities in England where school outcomes are currently weakest. These areas, 95% of which are outside London and the South East, will benefit from intensive investment and support. This will ensure the worst off schools of the North, Midlands, South West and East of England receive the most support over this decade. They will be supported by the Department for Education (DfE) offering retention payments to schools in these areas ensuring they can retain the best teachers. And will be prioritised for new specialist sixth form free schools that will ensure talented children from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to the highest standard of education this country offers.
Local Skills Improvement Plans will be rolled out with funding across England, giving local employer bodies and stakeholders a statutory role in planning skills training in their area, to better meet local labour market needs.
The government will set out its strategy to tackle the core drivers of health inequalities through a new White Paper on Health Disparities published this year.
Recommendations will be taken forward from Henry Dimbleby’s review towards a National Food Strategy. DfE will work with the Food Standards Agency to pilot measures to ensure greater compliance with the school food standards. The government will pilot the Community Eat Well programme, enabling GPs to prescribe exercise and healthy food.

Restoring local pride

The government will support 20 of our towns and city centres, starting off with Wolverhampton and Sheffield, undertaking ambitious, King’s Cross-style regeneration projects, transforming derelict urban sites into beautiful communities. This work will be spearheaded by Homes England, which will be repurposed to, in addition to its existing functions, regenerate towns and cities.
The ‘80/20 rule’ which leads to 80% of government funding for housing supply being directed at ‘maximum affordability areas’ – in practice, London and the South East – will be scrapped, with much of the £1.8 billion brownfield funding instead being diverted to transforming brownfield sites in the North and Midlands. The Metro Mayors will be allocated £120 million of this funding.
The government will announce a plan that for the first time ever, all homes in the Private Rented Sector will have to meet a minimum standard – the Decent Homes Standard. Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will further be abolished, ending the unfair situation where renters can be kicked out of their homes for no reason. We will consult on introducing a landlords register, and will set out plans for a crackdown on rogue landlords – making sure fines and bans stop repeat offenders leaving renters in terrible conditions.
Home ownership will be boosted due to a new £1.5 billion Levelling Up Home Building Fund being launched, which will provide loans to SMEs and support the UK government’s wider regeneration agenda in areas that are a priority for levelling up.
The government will further commit to building more genuinely affordable social housing. A new Social Housing Regulation Bill will deliver upon the commitments the government made following the Grenfell tragedy in 2017.
The White Paper will commit the government to significantly increasing cultural spending outside the capital, and commit that 100% of the Arts Council England funding uplift agreed at the latest Spending Review will be spent outside London.
A new National Youth Guarantee will be launched so that by 2025 every young person in England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home, and opportunities to volunteer.
A review of the Community Ownership Fund will occur so that more fans can take control of their vital local assets such as football club grounds. A £230 million investment in grassroots football will be delivered, with funding this year to deliver 850 pitches in England alone with further funding to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
£44 million will be unlocked from the Dormant Assets Scheme to support charities, social enterprises, and vulnerable individuals. With a consultation on the best causes for a further £880 million later this year, which will include a community wealth fund, youth and social investment.
The White Paper will announce 68 more local authorities to be supported by the High Streets Task Force to transform their town centres.
The government will give local authorities the power to require landlords of empty shops to fill them if they have been left vacant for too long.
£50 million from the Safer Streets Fund will be invested every year to give Police and Crime Commissioners, local authorities, and also certain civil society organisations in England and Wales the resources they need to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
To ensure those who transgress repair the damage they cause, £93 million will be invested in scaling up the amount of unpaid work that offenders to around 8 million hours per year – 1.75 million hours higher than any time since records began in 2015. Police officers will also gain the power to deal with noise nuisance.
Building on investment from the 10-year Drugs Strategy, the government will work intensively with the local authorities of 10-20 areas most affected by prolific neighbourhood crime.

Empowering local leaders

In addition to the policies announced above, such as offering a ‘London-style’ devolution settlement to every part of England:

Announcing for the first time a new devolution framework which sets out a clear menu of options for places in England that wish to unlock the benefits of devolution, whether that is moving towards a London-style transport system to connect people to opportunity, improving local skills provision, or being able to act more flexibly and innovatively to respond to local need.
The £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be decentralised to local leaders as far as possible, with investments set to regenerate communities, boost people’s skills, and support local businesses.
A commitment to vastly simplify the local growth funding landscape to allow local leaders to drive tangible, visible change in their communities.

Stephen Phipson, Chief Executive of Make UK, said: “Manufacturers will enthusiastically embrace this strategy which is a vital building block in spreading growth to all parts of the UK.

“The sector has a significant presence in exactly the areas which need levelling up and is playing a vital role in delivering high value skills. While there is substantially more to be done, this focus on skills and innovation, together with an emphasis on infrastructure and place, is the right starting point and one that industry will back.”

The 12 Missions to Level Up the UK

1. By 2030, pay, employment and productivity will have risen in every area of the UK, with each containing a globally competitive city, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.

2. By 2030, domestic public investment in Research & Development outside the Greater South East will increase by at least 40% and at least one third over the Spending Review period, with that additional government funding seeking to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth.

3. By 2030, local public transport connectivity across the country will be significantly closer to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing.

4. By 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population.

5. By 2030, the number of primary school children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will have significantly increased. In England, this will mean 90% of children will achieve the expected standard, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by over a third.

6. By 2030, the number of people successfully completing high-quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high-quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in the lowest skilled areas.

7. By 2030, the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) between local areas where it is highest and lowest will have narrowed, and by 2035 HLE will rise by 5 years.

8. By 2030, well-being will have improved in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.

9. By 2030, pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between the top performing and other areas closing.

10. By 2030, renters will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas; and the government’s ambition is for the number of non-decent rented homes to have fallen by 50%, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.

11. By 2030, homicide, serious violence, and neighbourhood crime will have fallen, focused on the worst-affected areas.

12. By 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution and a simplified, long-term funding settlement.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR SCOTLAND?

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove, will write to the leaders of the devolved administrations to invite them to work together to deliver for people across the UK.

Proposals will include using the new structures created in the landmark Intergovernmental Relations Review to drive collaboration to overcome geographical disparities and the creation of a new body to share evidence and analyse success in devolved policy areas across the UK.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “I welcome the publication of the Levelling Up White Paper and urge the Scottish Government and local partners to work closely with us improving lives across Scotland.

“Initiatives such as the Glasgow City-Region becoming an Innovation Accelerator, unlocking access to a share of £100 million of new funding, will help Scotland continue its vital role in keeping the UK at the forefront of global science and research.

“Thanks to locally led partnerships working closely with the UK Government, the region will become a major innovation cluster delivering high end jobs. This, along with the UK Government’s commitment to invest £20 billion research and development budget outside the Greater South East of England, is great news for Scotland and the wider UK as we deliver on our levelling up commitments.”

Amongst the UK-wide policies the UK Government will drive are:

A 40% increase in domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East of England by 2030. The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have committed to invest at least 55% of their domestic R&D funding outside the Greater South East by 2024/5.
Decentralisation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to local areas in Scotland and Wales.
Nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage across the UK and 5G coverage for most of the population.

Latest Treasury figures reveal record funding of £41 billion a year for the Scottish Government

Treasury figures published today show breakdown of the record £41 billion per year settlement for the Scottish Government
Scottish Government receives £126 per person of Barnett-based funding for every £100 per person of equivalent UK Government spending in England and Wales
Figures reaffirm UK Government’s commitment to levelling up across the whole of the UK

Figures released today by the Treasury set out how the UK Government will provide a record level of funding to the Scottish Government over the next three years – worth £41 billion a year.

The Block Grant Transparency publication provides a detailed breakdown of the funding settlements announced for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland at Spending Review 2021.

The £41 billion annual funding settlement is the largest, in real terms, since devolution more than 20 years ago. It ensures that the Scottish Government are well-funded to improve public services such as education, housing, health and social care, and will support the UK Government’s mission to level up the UK and build back better and greener from the pandemic.

In addition to Block Grant funding, the UK Government is also making direct investments in Scotland, such as committing more than £170 million through the Levelling Up Fund and the Community Ownership Fund, which will help to improve local infrastructure, regenerate town centres, and could even help to buy your local pub or community sports club.

Scotland will also benefit from cuts to Air Passenger Duty to improve connectivity and support jobs at Scottish airports.

UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Clarke said: “We’re committed to ensuring Scotland receives its fair share, and the latest Spending Review has provided a record £41 billion a year to the Scottish Government.

“This is funding substantial additional spending on key public services – as set out in last week’s Scottish Budget.

“We’ve also ensured people in Scotland have been supported throughout the pandemic, and the UK Government’s schemes have supported around one in three Scottish jobs. Now we’ll continue to work with the Scottish Government as we progress our recovery.”

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “Funding for the Scottish Government is the highest it has ever been, at a record £41 billion a year.

“The block grant settlement comes on top of significant direct UK Government investment in Scotland. We are committed to levelling up right across the UK, and are working with the Scottish Government and local councils to improve communities the length and breadth of Scotland.

“We recently announced a £191 million boost for Scottish community projects, on top of the £1.5 billion we are investing in City Deals in Scotland.

“For almost two years, the UK Government has been focused on protecting people’s lives, livelihoods and jobs. We will continue to tackle the pandemic while building a brighter future with a strong economy for people in every part of the UK.”

At Budget 2017, the Treasury committed to publish an annual Block Grant Transparency publication after each UK Government Budget to show a breakdown of changes to the devolved administrations’ block grant funding.

This report is intended to support greater transparency and accessibility to the people of Scotland as to how the UK Government provides funding to the Scottish Government

Biggest ever overnight cut to social security “makes a mockery of levelling up”

This morning, around 5.5 million families across the United Kingdom are waking up £1,040-a-year worse off due to the Prime Minister imposing the biggest ever overnight cut to social security.

Despite fierce opposition from across the political spectrum, his government has pressed ahead with this controversial cut which will cause immense, immediate and avoidable hardship.

As the cut comes into effect today, the Prime Minister must face the five most serious consequences of his cut:

Half a million more people pulled into poverty, including 200,000 children.
Makes social security wholly inadequate by reducing the main rate of out-of-work support to its lowest level in real terms since around 1990 and its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings.
Around 20% of all working-age families across the UK have lost £1,040 a year. 6 in 10 single parent families will be affected by this cut.
1.7 million people who will experience this cut to Universal Credit are unable to work – due to caring for others, disability, or illness – a promise of higher wages will do nothing to help them.
The cut takes £6 billion of spending power out of local economies. The cut has the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West and West Midlands, although no region will be left unscathed.

Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Today the Prime Minister has imposed the biggest ever overnight cut to social security. It makes a mockery of his mission to level up.

“Despite overwhelming opposition, he is ploughing ahead with a cut which fundamentally undermines the adequacy of our vital social security system as we face a cost-of-living crisis. This is not building back better, it’s repeating the same mistakes made after the last financial crisis.

“The Government says a key test of levelling up is improving living standards, yet they have just made around 5.5 million low-income families £1,040 a year worse off. People’s bills won’t get £87-a-month cheaper from today, in fact they are going up. Ministers’ arguments in recent days beg the question: has the party that created Universal Credit forgotten the purpose of the system?

“The Prime Minister is abandoning millions to hunger and hardship with his eyes wide open. Low-income families urgently need him to reinstate this vital lifeline.”

Participants in the Covid Realities project responding to the Prime Minister’s comments on the eve of the cut:

“My husband has been in his job for 25 years +, he hasn’t received a pay rise in 5 years and has recently been told there’s no way he will get one anytime soon.

So I’m sorry but there’s no fix there for us. Once again the only option is to struggle and I’m tired of it.” – Emma, England, Covid Realities

“He has no idea how tough it is and how hard people are working to make ends meet!

It is sickness inducing that he completely misses the point that families will either be cold or hungry due to this cut.” – Kim, Wales, Covid Realities

“Fuel and food is on the increase and … families on a low income cannot afford to absorb these costs.

“It is short-sighted to not think of the long term costs involved when already impoverished working families cannot sustain themselves.” – Aurora, England, Covid Realities

“So our prime minister has said he knows it is tough for people on low incomes, does he honestly? … How as parents can we support our children when we are going without food, hungry and unable to concentrate and even sleep at night with worry and stress, do you really understand?

… I would invite any MP to come and actually experience the day to day drain of living on low income and the impact that has on our mental and physical wellbeing.” – Caroline, Northern Ireland, Covid Realities

Political consequences:

413 parliamentary constituencies across Great Britain will see over a third of working-age families with children hit by the planned £1,040-a-year cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
- Of these 413 constituencies, 191 are Conservative – 53 of which were newly won at the last general election or in a subsequent by-election.
In 35 local authorities across Great Britain, 50% or more of working-age families with children will be impacted by the planned cut.

“THE NASTY PARTY IS WELL AND TRULY BACK”

Edinburgh Pentlands SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has condemned the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit, which comes into force today. The First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister of Northern Ireland have also condemned the measure.

The previous week, the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelming to support cancelling the Tory UK Government’s planned £20 a week cut to Universal Credit.

Gordon MacDonald also raised the matter with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Shona Robison seeking information on what representations the Scottish Government has made to the UK Government.

Ms Robison confirmed that the Scottish Government had written to the UK Government on eight separate occasions since March 2020 to ask it to retain the much-needed £20 uplift. In addition on 30 August, Ms Robison joined colleagues from Wales and Northern Ireland to write to the UK Government to urge it to retain the uplift. They are yet to receive a response.

SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald for Edinburgh Pentlands said: “The Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly spoke and demanded the Tory UK Government halts their plans to scrap the uplift to Universal Credit.

“Sadly, we also witnessed every single Tory MSP failing to stand up to their Westminster bosses in opposing the £20 a week cut – the biggest welfare cut since the 1930s at the worst possible time. Even former Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson and six former Tory DWP Secretary of States, opposed the cut.

“I am standing up for the 32,022 households impacted across Edinburgh, but the Tory Government at Westminster has now implemented their plans that will rip more than £1,000 a year out of the hands of the most vulnerable at a time when they need it most.

“I am quite frankly shocked, but not surprised, that the Scottish Tory MSPs not only voted to back the Universal Credit cut which will condemn thousands of families to poverty, but actively defended it – the Nasty Party is well and truly back.

“History will remember them for this – Scottish Tory MSPs are letting down thousands of families and children with this callous cut in favour of propping up their Tory chums in the UK Government who are imposing these policies on the people of Scotland.

“This demonstrates once again how the people of Scotland cannot afford to continue to suffer under Westminster control. We need to have the option of choosing a different path in a referendum which can give us the full powers of independence where we can build a fairer Scotland.”

First Ministers urge PM Boris Johnson: Do the right thing

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has joined with the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland to demand Prime Minister Boris Johnson “do the right thing” by reversing the decision to withdraw the £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit.

In a rare joint intervention, the leaders of the devolved nations have warned in a letter that the UK Government “is withdrawing this lifeline just as the country is facing a significant cost-of-living crisis.”

They have urged the Prime Minister to “consider the moral, social and economic harms” of the of this cut, and “do the right thing” and reverse his government’s decision to withdraw this funding which will harm around 6 million people across the UK.

The First Minister, along with Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and Northern Ireland First Minister and deputy First Minister Paul Givan and Michelle O’Neill say the move, which comes into effect this Wednesday, 6 October, is short sighted at a time of increases in the cost of food and fuel, rising inflation, the end of the furlough scheme, and imminent rise in National Insurance contributions.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I do not think there has been anything quite so morally indefensible in UK policy in recent times as the proposed cut to Universal Credit.

“At a time when we are facing the impact of the pandemic, Brexit and soaring costs, removing £20 per week from the lowest-income households simply cannot be defended in any way, shape or form.

“The planned cut represents the biggest overnight reduction to the basic rate of social security in more than 70 years and would sever a crucial lifeline for countless households across the UK at a time when budgets are already facing an unprecedented squeeze.

“It is an immoral, ill-thought out and ultimately counterproductive policy which simply must be stopped.

“Those on low incomes are going to find it difficult to feed their children, heat their homes, and pay their rent if the cut goes ahead. We have therefore united as the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to say to the Prime Minister: ‘Do not do this.’”

The full text of the letter is included below:

Dear Prime Minister

We are writing to call on you, with the utmost urgency, to reverse your Government’s short-sighted decision to withdraw the £20-per-week uplift to Universal Credit.

Your Government is withdrawing this lifeline just as the country is facing a significant cost-of-living crisis. This winter millions of people are facing an untenable combination of increases to the cost of food and energy, rising inflation, the end of the furlough scheme, and an imminent hike to National Insurance contributions.

There is no rationale for cutting such crucial support at a point when people across the UK are facing an unprecedented squeeze on their household budgets.

Within the last month, an overwhelming majority of elected members in Holyrood, the Senedd, Stormont and Westminster have voiced their opposition to this cut to Universal Credit, as have the four social security committees of each parliament. The four Children’s Commissioners of each nation, numerous charities and faith groups have also expressed their grave concerns as have millions of people who face additional and unnecessary hardship because of this cut to Universal Credit against the backdrop of a winter of hardship.

We note your Government’s announcement of a Household Support Fund – an acknowledgment that too many people will be unable to make ends meet this winter. Unfortunately, a £500 million fund handed out on a discretionary basis is wholly inadequate to making up the £6 billion shortfall in social security expenditure that will result from the cut to Universal Credit.

Your Government has repeatedly refused to conduct any impact analysis on the biggest overnight reduction to the basic rate of social security for more than 70 years.

As such, it is important that we draw your attention to the growing body of evidence and analysis about the harm this cut will inflict. Research by the Resolution Foundation and the Trussell Trust has highlighted the significant and devastating impact the cliff-edge withdrawal of the £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit will have on family incomes, with an associated rise in food insecurity.

The Legatum Institute has produced sobering analysis highlighting that the £20-per-week uplift has kept 840,000 people, including 290,000 children, out of poverty in Q2 of 2021. It makes no sense at all to knowingly pursue a policy that will result in this immense and needless rise in child poverty and we ask you to consider the lasting harm and costs of this cut accordingly.

It is important to note that this will increase poverty and hardship without delivering any tangible social or economic benefits. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights said – when calling upon you to reverse this cut – that for a healthy and well-qualified workforce to emerge, your Government must provide adequate levels of social protection. Years of a freeze on benefits means Universal Credit has not kept pace with rising living costs. Further to this, rising inflation means that a basic rate of Universal Credit after this cut will hold less purchasing power than it did in March 2020.

To support a meaningful recovery from this pandemic we must first ensure the needs of our most vulnerable are met. This cut threatens to undermine the recovery by diminishing the capacity of six million people to make ends meet.

It is not too late for you to reverse the decision to take money out of the pockets of the poorest in society at a time when they are facing a serious cost of living crisis.

We, with the full support of the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish and Welsh Governments, urge you to consider the moral, social and economic harms of this cut, and do the right thing and reverse your decision to withdraw this lifeline.

A copy of this letter is being sent to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and relevant Secretary of States for the devolved nations.

Yours sincerely

Nicola Sturgeon First Minister of Scotland

Mark Drakeford First Minister of Wales

Paul Givan First Minister of Northern Ireland

Michelle O’Neill Deputy First Minister

What does a “very difficult winter” look like for low-income families?

A lower-income couple with two young children where one adult is working full-time is going to need to find an additional £31-a-week to cover the cost of living and falling benefit rates from October, according to new analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

In an interviewyesterday, the Business Secretary warned “it could be a very difficult winter”. This comes amid growing concern across the political spectrum that the rising cost of living is about to put immense strain on low-income families.

If the Government proceeds with cut to Universal Credit as planned, changes to the energy price caps, and inflation means that at the same time this couple family are trying to compensate for the £20-a-week they had before the cut, they will soon need to find an additional:

£3 for energy (assuming pre-payment meter)
£8 for other living costs

= an additional £11 per week from October.

On top of this, the same family would need to find an extra £2.50 to cover the increase in National Insurance Contributions from April 2022 because of the Health and Social Care levy.

This would mean in total this family may need to find an additional £13.50 per week or £710 per year (around the entire clothing and footwear annual budget for this kind of family) as well as losing £20 a week from Universal Credit. For this family, the extra costs alone equate to around 3.5% of their weekly disposable income.

Peter Matejic, Deputy Director of Evidence & Impact at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Millions of low-income families are incredibly anxious about how on earth they are supposed to make ends meet from next month.

“Ministers rightly recognise this is shaping up to be a very difficult winter, yet there is little sign of them taking the decisive steps that are necessary to avoid real hardship for low-income families.

“The growing concern about the cost of living reinforces why cutting Universal Credit makes absolutely no sense. Social security is a key defence in protecting families from precisely these sorts of economic shocks, but the Government is on course to impose the biggest ever overnight cut to the system and leave families with an inadequate lifeline.

“The Prime Minister urgently needs to keep the £20-a-week increase to Universal Credit in place. Rising child poverty, soaring demand for food banks, people worrying about keeping their homes and covering the cost of bills, flies in the face of uniting and levelling up our country.”

Boris Johnson shuffles his pack

Aces, Knaves or Jokers?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reshuffling his Cabinet.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has been sacked and former Foreign Secretary Domic Raab has paid the price for his role in the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle. Raab is replaced by Liz Truss, while Nadhim Zahawi is also promoted – he takes over at Education.

Robert Jenrick (Housing and Communities) and Robert Buckland (Lord Advocate and Secretary of State for Justice) have left the government.

Further junior ministerial appointments will be announced today, but changes so far (marked with an asterisk) are as follows:

Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union

Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP

HM Treasury

Chancellor of the Exchequer – Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP
Chief Secretary to the Treasury – Simon Clarke MP

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Offic8e

Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, and Minister for Women and Equalities – Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP *
Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP
Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Minister for Equalities) – Kemi Badenoch MP

Home Office

Secretary of State for the Home Department – Rt Hon Priti Patel MP
Minister of State – Kit Malthouse MP (jointly with the Ministry of Justice)

Cabinet Office

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office – Rt Hon Stephen Barclay MP
Minister of State – The Rt Hon Lord Frost CMG
COP26 President – Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP
Minister without Portfolio – Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP *
Minister of State – Nigel Adams MP

Ministry of Justice

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice – Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP *
Minister of State – Kit Malthouse MP (jointly with the Home Office)

Ministry of Defence

Secretary of State for Defence – Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP

Department for International Trade

Secretary of State for International Trade, and President of the Board of Trade – Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – The Rt Hon Sajid Javid

Department for Work and Pensions

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – Rt Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP
Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – Rt Hon Greg Hands MP

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government – Rt Hon Michael Gove MP *
Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Minister for Equalities) – Kemi Badenoch MP

Department for Education

Secretary of State for Education – Nadhim Zahawi MP *
Minister of State – Michelle Donelan MP

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – Nadine Dorries MP *
Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – Julia Lopez MP

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Rt Hon George Eustice MP
Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Victoria Prentis MP

Department for Transport

Secretary of State for Transport – Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP

Northern Ireland Office

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland – Rt Hon Brandon Lewis CBE MP

Scotland Office

Secretary of State for Scotland – Rt Hon Alister Jack MP

Wales Office

Secretary of State for Wales – Rt Hon Simon Hart MP

Office of the Leader of the House of Lords

Lord Privy Seal, and Leader of the House of Lords – Rt Hon Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Office of the Leader of the House of Commons

Lord President of the Council, and Leader of the House of Commons – Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP

Whips – House of Commons

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip) – Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP

Law Officers

Attorney General – Rt Hon Suella Braverman MP

The following have left the government:

Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP – previously Secretary of State for Education
Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP – previously Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP – previously Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice

Yesterday’s announcements coincidentally (?) overshadowed an important Westminster debate on social security and the cut to Universal Credit.

Peter Matejic, Deputy Director of Evidence & Impact at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “No Government committed to levelling up can credibly defend the biggest ever overnight cut to social security.

“As bills are going up, cost of essential items are rising and National Insurance is set to be increased, ministers are ploughing ahead with a damaging cut to Universal Credit which is fiercely opposed across the political spectrum.

“The Government is reportedly planning to ignore its own analysis which shows how catastrophic this cut would be. No good will come of cutting Universal Credit by £20-a-week. All it would do is impose unnecessary hardship on millions of low-income families and hurt the very communities the Government wants to level up.

“Ministers have nothing to say to the many families who are unable to work or are not expected to work due to sickness, disability or caring responsibilities who are facing this massive income shock.

We all need an adequate social security system and, for those who are already in work or looking for a job, a bold Plan for Jobs, if we are to improve living standards. The Prime Minister knows this and it’s not too late for him to keep this vital lifeline strong.”

Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Today’s debate makes clear that the Prime Minister and Chancellor are increasingly isolated in supporting the cut to Universal Credit.

“There is widespread concern amongst MPs about the devastating impact this will have on huge numbers of their constituents and new ministers are certain to face intense pressure from families anxious about how they will make ends meet from next month.

“The £20-a-week increase to Universal Credit is vital to protect families from poverty and provide the stability they need to improve their prospects.

“As energy bills go up, prices on the shelves rise and National Insurance is set to increase, the Prime Minister must urgently keep this support in place, or his premiership risks being defined by plunging people into poverty rather than levelling up.”

A Tale of Two Pandemics: TUC exposes COVID Class Divide

NEW POLLING reveals the extent to which low-paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic

NEW POLLING reveals the extent to which low-paid workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic
TUC analysis shows three industries furthest away from recovery are all low-paid and have highest rates of furlough use
TUC warns the end of furlough and Universal Credit cut will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers
Union body says without an economic reset post-pandemic the government’s levelling up agenda will be “doomed to failure”

The coronavirus crisis has been “a tale of two pandemics”, the TUC said today as it calls for an urgent “economic reset” to tackle the huge class divide in Britain that has been exposed by the pandemic.

The call comes as the union body publishes new polling which shows how low-income workers have borne the brunt of the pandemic with little or no option to work from home, no or low sick pay and reduced living standards, while better-off workers have enjoyed greater flexibility with work, financial stability and increased spending power.

Pandemic class divide

New TUC polling, conducted by Britain Thinks, has revealed the extent of the pandemic class divide with the high-paid more financially comfortable than before, while the low-paid have been thrust into financial difficulty:

Low-paid workers (those earning less than £15,000) are almost twice as likely as high-paid workers (those earning more than £50,000) to say they have cut back on spending since the pandemic began (28 per cent compared to 16 per cent)
High earners are more than three times likely than low-paid workers to expect to receive a pay rise in the next 12 months (37 per cent compared to 12 per cent).

This Covid class divide isn’t just apparent on personal finances. The polling also shows how low-paid workers are markedly more likely to get low or no sick pay compared to higher earners:

Low-paid workers are four times more likely than high-paid workers to say they cannot afford to take time off work when sick (24 per cent compared to six per cent).
Only a third (35 per cent) of low-paid workers say they get full pay when off sick compared to an overwhelming majority of high-paid workers (80 per cent)

The TUC has long been calling for an increase to statutory sick pay, which stands at a derisory £96.35 a week, and from which more than two million low-paid workers – mostly women – are currently excluded because they do not earn enough to qualify.

The union body recently criticised the government decision to “abandon” these two million workers by failing to expand eligibility of sick pay, as they had previously promised.

This lack of decent sick pay is compounded by the fact that low-paid workers are more than three times more likely than high-paid workers to say they their job means they can only work outside the home (74 per cent compared to 20 per cent).

This means that low-paid workers face greater risk of contracting the virus at work, and when ill, often face the impossible choice of doing the right thing but losing income or keeping full pay but potentially spreading the virus.

Low-paid industries lag

New TUC analysis shows that the three industries furthest away from a jobs recovery – arts and entertainment, accommodation and food and ‘other services’ – are all ‘low paid’ industries.

These are also the three industries with the highest furlough rates according to HMRC stats, and three of the highest according to most recent ONS estimate.

The end of furlough poses a serious threat to low-paid jobs in these industries – and combined with the “senseless” Universal Credit cut – will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers and push many further into hardship, the union body says.

Time for an economic reset

The TUC says its analysis and poll findings paint a picture of stark inequality in the UK, which has been further entrenched through the coronavirus crisis, and show that the country needs an urgent “economic reset” post-pandemic.

The union body warns that without such a reset, the government’s levelling up agenda will be “doomed to failure” as ministers risk repeating the same mistakes which followed the financial crisis, allowing insecure work to spiral even further.

To prevent unnecessary hardship in the coming months, the TUC is calling on the government to:

Extend the furlough scheme for as long as is needed to protect jobs and livelihoods and put in place a permanent short-time working scheme to protect workers at times of economic change
Cancel the planned £20 cut to Universal Credit

And as part of a post-pandemic reset, the TUC says ministers must:

Ban zero hours contracts
Raise the minimum wage immediately to at least £10
Increase statutory sick pay to a real Living Wage and make it available to all
Introduce new rights for workers to bargain for better pay and conditions through their unions

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone deserves dignity at work and a job they can build a life on. But too many working people – often key workers – are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table.

“It has been a tale of two pandemics. This Covid class divide has seen low-paid workers bear the brunt of the pandemic, while the better off have enjoyed greater financial security, often getting richer.

“This should be a wake up call – we need an economic reset. It’s time for a new age of dignity and security at work.

“Without fundamental change, the government’s own levelling up agenda will be doomed to failure. And we risk repeating the same old mistakes of the past decade – allowing insecure work to spiral even further.

“Ministers must start by banning zero-hours contracts, raising the minimum wage with immediate effect and increasing statutory sick pay to a real Living Wage, making it available to all.

“And we know that the best way for workers to win better pay and conditions at work is through their union.”

On the risk to low-paid workers this autumn, Frances said: “The imminent end to the furlough scheme and cut to Universal Credit this autumn will be a hammer blow for low-paid workers and could plunge millions into hardship, many of whom are already teetering on the edge.

“The government must reverse its senseless decision to cut Universal Credit and extend the furlough scheme for as long as is needed to protect jobs and livelihoods.”

‘Levelling Up’: Community Ownership Fund opens for bids from communities in Scotland

People across Scotland are being given the chance to become owners of at-risk local pubs, theatres, post offices, sports grounds and corner shops thanks to the UK Government’s new £150 million Community Ownership Fund.

The move is part of the UK Government’s strategy to build back better from the pandemic by giving communities the power to save the local institutions that bring us together and foster a sense of community.

Details were published yesterday of how voluntary and community organisations across Scotland and the rest of the UK will be able to bid for up to £250,000 matched funding to buy or take over local assets and run them.

Up to £1 million will be available to establish sports clubs or help to buy sports grounds at risk without intervention – meaning a group of loyal supporters could become the Chairman and board at their beloved local team.

A total of £12.3 million has been set aside for community projects in Scotland, whether they be sporting and leisure facilities, cinemas and theatres, music venues, museums, galleries, parks, pubs, post office buildings and shops.

The Prime Minister unveiled more detail as part of a major speech setting out how the UK Government will continue to ‘level up’ all regions of the country as we bounce back from the pandemic.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “Alongside the Levelling Up, Community Renewal and UK Shared Prosperity Funds, the Community Ownership Fund is part of a crucial package of UK Government investment to support communities.

“The funds will play an important role as we build back better from the pandemic. I encourage communities across Scotland to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities the Community Ownership Fund provides.”

The announcement follows major investment and action from the UK Government to level up opportunity and prosperity across all areas of the country, including through the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund and the £220 million Community Renewal Fund.

The UK Government will undertake a series of information events with communities, the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and local authorities in all parts of the UK.

The first bidding round closes on 13th August with another seven bidding rounds expected to take place over the next four years.

TUC: We can’t level up the country without levelling up at work

Commenting on yesterday’s speech by the prime minister on levelling up, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We can’t level up the country without levelling up at work.

“This pandemic has brutally exposed the terrible working conditions, low pay and insecurity many of our key workers face.

“But so far, there has been precious little to show for the government’s vaunted levelling up agenda. And today’s announcements will do little to change that.

“With more than 1 million children of key worker households in poverty and 3.6 million workers stuck in insecure jobs, it’s time the government moved on from empty sound bites.

“Enough is enough. Ministers must invest in good green jobs in industries of the future, ban zero hours contracts and give all of our key workers a pay rise.

“And they must invest in warmer homes, faster broadband and better public transport links across the country. That’s how we level up the UK.”