Regional initiatives hold lessons for levelling up

Universities need new partnerships to tackle geographic inequality, not just new money, says Rick Delbridge

Besides more money for R&D, October’s autumn budget and spending review contained a welcome commitment to changing where money is spent. According to the Treasury, the intention is to ensure that an increased share is invested outside the south-east of England.

A levelling-up white paper—due by the end of the year—is expected to set out how this will be achieved. Few details have emerged to date, but the spending review promised to “build on the support provided throughout the UK via programmes such as the Strength in Places Fund and the Catapult network”.