A New Regional Policy for the UK

There is a growing consensus that the UK's serious regional economic disparities need to be tackled, and the Government has accepted an ambitious target of reducing these disparities over the long term. Crucially, the sustained regional voice provided by the Deputy Prime Minister has been supplemented by the rise of HM Treasury as regional champions.

However, there is less consensus over the causes of these disparities and what policy instruments would make a real difference. This report addresses how levels of both productivity and employment in the regions can be improved, and in particular suggests how lagging regions can benefit from policy improvements in areas such as enterprise, innovation, skills, public investment, the housing market and labour market reforms.