Lord Kerslake Midlands Agencies Four Super Lord Parliament Commission

A heavyweight House of Lords commission will back the establishment of four regional agencies to spearhead economic development in England, its Chair Lord Kerslake has revealed.

The former Chief Civil Servant outlined the headline recommendations of the Lords 2070 Commission in the opening speech at our Midlands Development Conference.

The commission, which has been set up to find long term solutions to tackling inequalities across England, is publishing its initial report ahead of major symposium in Leeds next month. Lord Kerslake said the report will press for “radical changes” in government policy. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

Its recommendations will include the establishment of four major economic development agencies, covering the north, midlands, south west and south east respectively. The remit of the agencies would be to drive economic development and make “major decisions” on regional infrastructure.

Except for the one covering the south west, the four agencies would each cover a wider geographical area than the regional development agencies established under the previous. Labour government.

Lord Kerslake said the commission will also push for a spatial economic framework to help address inequalities within England, which he said are deeper than in any other European nation except “possibly” for Ireland and Slovakia.

“Different governments have essentially been relying on the market to address spatial inequalities with little or no spatial planning. There is pretty clear evidence that this has not delivered,” he said, adding that while governments cannot direct private sector activity, they can encourage it.

Lord Kerslake added that it was “no coincidence” that England is both one of the most unequal countries in Europe and “one of the most centralised.”

The peer also warned backers of HS2 that they will have their work cut out getting the project delivered in the face of mounting political resistance: “The original case for HS2 would have been much stronger if instead of just focusing on speed, it would have been part of a wider renewal of transport infrastructure and rebalancing Britain. You will have to work really hard to deliver that case to secure its future.”

Referring to previous votes in Parliament to support the project, he said: “Don’t be deceived by big majorities, we are at a point where it will require a serious fight to secure its future.”

Lord Kerslake said the commission plans to publish its second report in September ahead of the party conferences with a final report early in the following year.

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