Levelling Up White Paper will be a sham if it does not aid our failing towns and cities - Mark Casci

Among his many achievements was his personal intervention with the then mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, to carry out the first ever mandatory evacuation of the city ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The evacuation saw more than a million people flee the city before the worst of the hurricane hit the city, killing hundreds and flooding 80 per cent of the city.

Mr Mayfield’s words resonated around my head reading the latest report by think tank the Centre for Cities, in which it detailed the devastating impact of the pandemic on Yorkshire’s cities and towns.Many city and large towns in the region lost more than half a year’s worth of potential takings since March 2020.

Worst impacted were, predictably, our largest cities. Between the first lockdown and Omicron’s onset, Leeds lost 39 weeks of sales, while businesses in Sheffield and Bradford city centres are also among the worst hit. Conversely, smaller cities and towns weathered the Covid storm much better, with Huddersfield, Wakefield and Barnsley suffering a fraction of the damage.

The figures, while startling, were not entirely unexpected.

Establishments in larger cities enjoy patronage of office workers, commuters and visitors from further afield far more than their smaller counterparts and, for large amounts of time over the last two years, have been denied access to them owing to restrictions and a public hesitant to travel or socialise closely.

What troubled me more was the outlook for the next steps. City centres’ higher levels of affluence mean that, when restrictions ease and office workers return, they will likely recover quickly.

The think tank was less optimistic for historically weaker economies. It believes that pandemic support measures put forward by the Government has largely sheltered these areas from the realities of Covid and may, as it put it, “simply stored up pain for the future”. For many entrepreneurs serving these proud communities, the last two years may have been more of a stay of execution.

But does it have to be this way?

My view is it does not. There is more that can be done to make sure their future does not appear so bleak and in a way which eschews the usual hanging baskets and murals outside vacant stores.

Reports over the weekend suggested that the long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper will arrive next month and recommend a multi-faceted approach to areas like public health and education.

There has to be a genuine strategy, one that addresses business rate reform, car parking, connectivity and skills. A fairer tax system that reflects the modern economy, a better connected and accessible network around our towns and an upskilled workforce with more purchasing power would put these places in a far more empowered position.

Finally, and this is ambitious I know, but is there a mechanism for encouraging fast-growing SMEs to either stay in smaller locales as they scale up, or even better, encourages larger businesses to move there? Incentives would be key but having fast-moving employers creating jobs in the declining towns and cities sounds like a great way to heal those wounds.

Without any meaningful and budgeted action on this front, the White Paper will be as worthless as previous Government pledges (see HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail etc). Already there are sizeable rumblings that the Treasury is reluctant to release further funds for any planned initiatives.

However, there is a political imperative this time. Without the Red Wall seats it captured from Labour in 2019 the current Government will face a tough ask in the next election.

Partygate has already hammered its standing in the most recent polling. Failure to level up would be the final nail in the coffin.

Mr Mayfield’s words need to be heeded.