Tips on developing local growth strategies in a changing political landscape

- By Simon Hooton, Managing Director, GC Insight

The GC Insight team have been running our eyes over the Labour Manifesto. We thought about reviewing all the others but in the interests of evidence-based decision making, figured it probably didn’t make sense. (If this comes back to haunt me, I shall obviously blame the data). Let’s be honest, the commitments in the manifesto aren’t going to meet the full scale of the challenge facing the UK economy’s growth, productivity and inclusion challenges. But to be fair to the Labour front bench, I don’t think they are pretending otherwise. It’s a first instalment to get in power and we should expect more to come.

The mood music suggests there is a front bench team that understands the situation and isn’t complacent about the long-term challenge. There is a fair bit in the manifesto that looks like it should start to move us in the right direction. And, it’s clear that some of the questions about what to do, will be devolved to local areas.

Although the full scale of Labour’s devolution ambitions aren’t fully fleshed out, there are firm commitments to deepen devolution settlements, to mission-driven government and to make Local Growth Plans a statutory requirement, as well as a national Industrial Strategy.

So, there will be yet more strategy coming down the line and this time it will be statutory. We don’t yet know what that means in practice – it could just be a requirement to have one, but it might yet evolve into something more akin to Local Plans which have prescribed preparation process and role in local decision-making.

Right now, many local areas are already engaged in some sort of economic strategic planning exercise and it's not too soon for others to get going as well, even if it is simply to feed into a wider exercise undertaken at a higher tier of local government.

Having worked on economic strategy in the UK and in Canada, going back to the RDA days, and for LEPs and local authorities, here are my tips on the key things to keep in mind.

• Be clear on what strategy is for: it’s there to both set out your long-term priorities and to shape your short-term investment decision-making. Strategy is about making choices on what is important, and by implication, what is less important. It has to have scope for tactics as well as consistency, but it must be used to influence where money and energy are deployed.
• Strategy should blend what you want to do alongside what you have to do: it can’t just be a list of pet projects that will have no impact on real world conditions, but equally it must reflect what local partners are ready to put their energies into getting off the ground. And it must contain long term actions that will help steer your economy onto a new trajectory.
• Don’t get bogged down in evidence collection: the data is there primarily to strengthen your case not to make it. It is very unlikely that an extensive baseline will shed light on issues that weren’t already known, and even if it did, its not likely that the evidence will quickly turn around the momentum behind the actions that have lots of local political support and have been waiting for years to be delivered. There is also a lot of data out there and many new sources emerging – make sure you use the best data to support your case.
• Narrative beats uniqueness: don’t search for that singular thing that you think sets your area apart. The problems you face and the opportunities you have are not so different from your neighbours. The story you tell about what you want to achieve is what will grab investor’s attention and if done well, will set you apart and highlight areas for collaboration. That story has to involve a cast of characters and settings where the action will take place, and it must have a central spine that sticks in people’s memories.
• Tell national government what you will do for them: the Labour Manifesto sets out five missions that may shape a lot of their focus in the coming years. They highlight the importance of growth, energy, streets/safety, and fitness/health. Make sure your strategy shows how your actions will help address these missions.
• Engage to explain: it is important to consult and learn from what local stakeholders have to say about your plans. Strategy should adapt to reflect the views of others, but it should also be an opportunity to explain to stakeholders the trade-offs you are making and how the building blocks of action contribute to the economy you hope to see emerge.
• Be realistic and purposeful: the global drivers of change (technology, environment, knowledge and political stability) will have a far more powerful impact on the economy than your strategic plans. But that is no reason to avoid having a plan for how you want to navigate through the changes coming your way.
• Do get the boring stuff done too: the day you launch is the start, not the end. At that point you will need governance arrangements, investment decision-making procedures, delivery plans, risk registers, key performance indicators, monitoring tools, evaluation resources, stakeholder engagement and a scheduled strategy refresh in place. From that point onwards your local partners need to embark on the long-term journey to deliver on your chosen strategic priorities.

It will take time and require stamina to change the underlying issues, but to succeed, places need to stick to a strategic plan. We aren’t sure what will happen next week, let alone at the next General Election, but if Labour get in with the sort of majority the polls are suggesting, I hope they will be making plans for long term renewal of the UK which should mean we have a more settled landscape for local and regional economic development that will be needed to make strategy stick and turn the dial on the nation’s fortunes.

GC Insight has worked with a wide range of local authorities, partnerships and combined authorities over the years to help create strategy, generate evidence, assess impact, secure investment and evaluate achievements of economic development initiatives. Our team has a wide range of insights and experience that can help local areas navigate through the opportunities and challenges ahead for businesses, places, people, destinations, infrastructure and the environment. If you would like to know more or think we can help, please get in touch.

www.gcinsight.co.uk