Remember local needs demands think tank

The left-leaning think-tank Ippr North has been analysing the policy pledges of the three major parties to establish how they match up to northern demands.

It says the three most important issues for Yorkshire and Humber, the North West and the North East after the election will be employment and economic development, reinvigorating the local state, and building capable communities.

But the paper concludes while all parties agree on the importance of localism – giving more power to ordinary people to take decisions that affect their lives – there is "very little" to suggest that any of the parties would radically reverse the last 20 years of "creeping centralisation".

Ed Cox, director of ippr north said: "It is time to break the cycle which leaves Northern regions at the top of league tables you do not want to top, and bottom of those you do whether for education, health, employment or the region's economy.

"The recession has not helped: Existing social and economic disparities between the Northern regions and the rest of England have sharpened and widened and the North has suffered disproportionately.

"The next government must address the very real needs within the three northern regions of England. At ippr north we will continue to stimulate debate dialogue and discussion to highlight regional views on how to tackle these."