UK growth strategy must connect outsiders to economic hubs

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UK growth: connecting outsiders

Highlights

UK growth policy should shift focus from regional geography to improving access to thriving labour markets for excluded populations.
Strengthening transport links and expanding housing, as seen in the Scottish central belt, can make jobs in major city regions accessible to peripheral communities.
Coordinated planning for sectors like energy and expanded investment in universities and skills can widen economic benefits and increase productivity across the UK's periphery.

Policy focus shifts to core-periphery divide

As reported by Financial Times, the argument is that economic policy should focus less on geography between regions and more on whether workers can access thriving labour markets. The case builds on the idea that cities such as London, Edinburgh and Manchester benefit from agglomeration, where dense populations help match employers and workers more efficiently.

The political challenge, however, lies in places cut off from those clusters. Areas with weak transport links and scarce local jobs risk deeper social strains, including ill health, loneliness and long-term exclusion from work, while frustration in such communities can translate into broader resistance to government policy.

The same divide exists within London as well as outside it. High housing costs and the size of the capital push deprivation and lower employment towards outer areas and into parts of Essex and Kent, reinforcing the view that the issue is one of insiders versus outsiders rather than north versus south.

Transport, housing and skills seen as growth levers

The article points to the Scottish central belt as an example of how stronger transport connections and housebuilding can widen labour markets, allowing people to live in Edinburgh or Glasgow and work in either city. That approach is also presented as part of the government's northern growth strategy, under which jobs in Manchester could become more accessible to people in places such as St Helens or Wallasey, while firms in Bolton or Wigan could serve demand in Liverpool.

For sectors such as energy, the case is made for planning across several city regions rather than within a single urban core. A broader northern plan stretching from the Irish Sea to the North Sea is framed as a way to share the gains from investment in new energy technology across a wider economic footprint.

Universities, colleges, research and training are described as the final ingredient needed to turn connectivity into better quality employment. The view set out is that knowledge-intensive industries, alongside infrastructure and stronger local institutions, can help raise productivity and incomes across the UK, bringing people on the periphery into the benefits of growth.

Our earlier article on the UK’s devolution debate under Andy Burnham outlined proposals to shift more control of public-service and development budgets away from Westminster, especially across health, transport, housing and education. We noted that deeper local accountability could help build stronger regional growth clusters beyond London, though it may also widen spatial inequalities in the near term as successful city regions pull ahead.

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