How can the government learn from the past to make levelling up a success?

Institute for Government

Boris Johnson's 2019 pledge to ‘level up’ the UK has become his government’s flagship agenda. But this is not the first government aiming to reduce regional economic disparities, and the Johnson administration will need to learn from the experience of past administrations if it is to succeed where others failed. With previous attempts to level up let down by frequent churn in institutions and programmes, as well as a failure to properly evaluate which policies were working, this event will explore what lessons the government can learn from the past. Does the government know which policies will work to level up? How can it overcome barriers to the effective evaluation of any new policies? What other lessons can it learn from previous administrations if it is to make levelling up a success? The Institute for Government was delighted to bring together the following panel to discuss these issues: Ruth Kelly, Chief Analyst at the National Audit Office Danielle Mason, Head of Policy at the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth Lucie Moore, Evaluation Lead in the Evaluation Task Force, Cabinet Office Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. The event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. #IfGlevellingup