Brexit and a New Regional Economic Settlement

LIVERPOOL, U.K. - Nov. 26, 2019 - PRLog -- In an article published today by PFMConnect, David Fellows suggests that the leave result of the UK referendum on membership of the European Union evidenced a profound discontent with the job opportunities available in many regions of the country outside London. He sees a skewed and under-performing economy giving rise to the steady destruction of social structures as young professionals and skilled workers drift from more distant regions to the South East leaving behind fractured communities with weakened family support systems.

He is concerned that the main political parties are preparing to leave the regions to sort themselves out and that this is not at all acceptable. The country is highly centralised in terms of control over many of the levers of economic development and the incoming government must take responsibility for driving a regional development programme forward.

Proposals for action come in three key areas: ministerial responsibility for each of four new regional economic development bodies; a set of policies for driving improvement; and some specific industries to be identified as initial candidates for support. The Northern Powerhouse (https://northernpowerhouse.gov.uk/people/) and other similar programmes reflect some of these ideas while failing to offer scale and ambition.

In the author's view, whichever party wins the next general election it is incumbent on them to come into office with a clear vision on how they intend to address the intolerable regional economic disparities from which the country suffers and must make a commitment to take responsibility for achieving rapid progress on this agenda.

The articles can be found at http://blog-pfmconnect.com/brexit-and-a-new-economic-sett....

About the Author
David Fellows is a public financial management and digital communication expert and a director of PFMConnect. Previously he worked at a senior level in UK local government and in the Cabinet Office as an advisor on local government reform. He has written pieces on public financial management and digital communication for the World Policy Journal, the IMF, the Australian National University and USAID.

About PFMConnect
PFMConnect is an international development consultancy that supports the development of good standards of public financial management in order to improve public service delivery, extend public accountability, encourage local business development and combat corruption. Its work is principally centred on developing countries, working in cooperation with governments and other stakeholders.