How do we re-balance our local economies to serve the interests of the many and not just the few?
Policy Commission: Housing, Local Government and Transport
Policy Areas: The Housing, Local Government and Transport Policy Commission develops Labour policy concerning local government and devolution, house-building and the housing sector, and Britain’s transport infrastructure and services.
Basingstoke Issues:
Affordable housing, Public transport, Empty shops, Leisure Park, Basing View
Email your suggestions for other local issues in this policy area.
Local economic development
Empowering local people to transform their local areas
Background:
Britain’s economy is the most geographically unequal in Europe, with huge variation in the strength of local economies across the country. Economic restructuring has concentrated businesses and jobs in some parts of the country while destroying the economic base of others, leaving many communities hollowed out and disillusioned.
Turning round years of economic neglect will require coordinated action at all levels of government. Labour’s 2017 manifesto set some crucial steps and, since the election, through the Community Wealth Building Unit and the Shadow Chancellor’s “Road to Rebuilding Britain” tour, the Party has been developing ideas about how its programme can be developed and implemented locally. The Shadow Minister for Planning has also established a commission with the aim of empowering communities to shape the development of their local areas.
This consultation will serve as the next step in that process, asking what key issues areas across the country face, and what suite of policies are needed to turn Britain around on a local level. It will invite views on what policy levers Labour should use in government to support local economic development, what institutions should pull those levers and whether they need reforming, as well as what Labour councils can do now to start laying the ground for the road to rebuilding Britain’s economy.
Key Questions:
- How can councils use the planning system and other instruments to support local high streets, for example, by bringing empty commercial properties back into use?
- How can Labour councils in different parts of the country work together to build mutually-beneficial economic ties?
- Should Labour retain Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) as a key body for defining local priorities and directing local economic development?
- How can housing provision, a low-carbon economy, transport, local bank branches, and other facilities be used to support local economic development?
Full details: Local economic development
Previous / See the full list of 8 consultation documents / Next
If you think we should discuss this consultation paper, please complete the feedback form and let us know your thought on this, or any other issue.
Consultation End Date: 30th June 2019