Andy Burnham’s devolution plan will work as long as communities have a real stake in it

Our new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made his pledge to Britain: “good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart". 

I have spent decades studying how to deliver inclusive economic growth and successful example share one thing in common: they have found ways to give communities agency to drive renewal from within. 

In my recent book 'Left Behind', I outlined the wasteful and brutal regional divide in the UK. Where you live is one of the most important factors that will determine your life chances in Britain. As the recent IFS Deaton review underlined, people living in London and the South East tend to have higher incomes, higher levels of education, and to live longer and healthier lives. 

This inequality, coupled with our centralised state, has contributed to the fact that the UK has particularly low levels of trust in government for a higher income country. 

Various government initiatives over the years – ‘New Deal for Communities’, ‘Levelling Up’ – have each sought to address this challenge. Yet regional inequality has barely budged. 

So how do we do things differently this time and win back trust from citizens? National policy can learn from communities that are already pioneering new approaches to renewal. One encouraging feature of the government's latest effort, ‘Pride in Place’, launched under the Starmer government, is that it creates some space for these local initiatives to shape long-term plans. But the real lessons come from the communities themselves. 

Our work with Scunthorpe Tomorrow 

I’ve been working with Scunthorpe Tomorrow, a community network of current and former residents in Scunthorpe that has since grown to more than 500 members, focused on connecting people, supporting local initiatives and changing the narrative about what is possible for the town. 

Our role has been to support Scunthorpe Tomorrow with evidence and ideas drawn from research and practice elsewhere. Alongside this, Raees Khan, one of our Master of Public Policy students, worked with the network to co-develop proposals for a new leadership programme to strengthen local capacity. This work highlights three capabilities that are essential for renewal from within. 

Firstly, successful efforts need a long-term plan, which the Pride in Place programme recognises. Scunthorpe Tomorrow contributed to North Lincolnshire's plan, creating a shared vision that lifts the conversation beyond the inevitable pressures of day-to-day problems. Local frustrations deserve to be heard, but they also need to be connected to a longer-term strategy. A shared plan becomes a north star around which businesses, civic organisations, local government and residents can align their efforts. 

Secondly, places should actively engage their diaspora. Many people who leave their hometowns retain a strong attachment and are eager to contribute if they can find meaningful opportunities. Scunthorpe Tomorrow itself was inspired by the work of Blavatnik School alumnus Lord Jason Stockwood, Chair of the UK Government’s Office for Investment and former UK Minister of State for Investment. Jason was a Transformational Leadership Fellow while he was at the Blavatnik School working with me in 2021, after which he launched Our Future, an organisation committed to renewal in nearby Grimsby. 

My year at BSG helped me realise just how central Grimsby is to my own identity, and how the town’s story reflects the challenges and opportunities found in communities across the UK. It gave me the time and perspective to think about how to reconnect personally with the place that shaped me, and to think about how I might help others reconnect with the places that have shaped them.  Our Future, and the ripple effects it has inspired through initiatives such as Scunthorpe Tomorrow, demonstrate that this approach can provide a blueprint for communities across the UK to rediscover pride, confidence and possibility in their own futures.

Lord Jason Stockwood

Successful places, like Mondragón in Spain, have shown that reconnecting with their diaspora can inject new expertise, networks and confidence, working with people locally. In Scunthorpe, Professor Gordon Dougan of the University of Cambridge has used Scunthorpe Tomorrow as a springboard to work with the University Campus North Lincolnshire to create new opportunities for students and to strengthen the Campus’s contribution to the town's future. This has included opportunities for students and staff to collaborate with research intensive universities such as Cambridge and Imperial College London on issues such as regional disparities in life expectancy. 

Thirdly, local talent must be nurtured, to avoid brain drain. Scunthorpe Tomorrow, working with Raees Khan, has developed proposals for a new community leadership programme, Leaders in North Lincolnshire, designed to equip local people with the skills and networks needed to lead change over the coming decade. 

Scunthorpe is not unique. Similar stories are emerging in places from Grimsby to Bishop Auckland, where communities are taking greater ownership of their futures. Together, they point towards an emerging playbook for renewal from within. 

A ‘devolution revolution’? 

If devolution simply transfers power from Whitehall to regional institutions, it will fall far short of its promise. For “good growth” to flourish in every postcode, the government’s devolution agenda must be shaped by local communities, and their involvement cannot end there. We must work with, and learn from, communities across the UK which, tired of waiting for government to act, are already demonstrating how renewal can happen from within.