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Probably42 News - March-2022
Welcome to our March Newsletter!
Since the last newsletter we’ve discussed the recent Levelling Up White Paper and as a result input some recommendations to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and also to the Onward Think Tank.
The White Paper, at 332 pages, is a substantial piece of work. Even the separate Executive Summary is 17 pages but is well worth a read. Both are available at Levelling Up the United Kingdom - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
If you aren’t familiar with it, very broadly it is structured around these 5 Pillars and 12 Missions:
Pillar 1. The UK Government is setting clear and ambitious medium-term missions to provide consistency and clarity over Levelling Up policy objectives.
The missions are rolling decade-long endeavours and will be reviewed periodically by the UK Government. 2030 appears to be the target date for most.
- Pay and Productivity
- R&D
- Transport
- Digital Connectivity
- Education
- Skills
- Health
- Well-being
- Pride in place
- Housing
- Crime
- Local leadership
Pillar 2. Central government decision-making will be fundamentally reoriented to align policies with the Levelling Up agenda and hardwire spatial considerations across Whitehall.
Pillar 3. The UK Government will empower decision-makers in local areas by providing leaders and businesses with the tools they need.
Pillar 4. The UK Government will transform its approach to data and evaluation to improve local decision-making.
Pillar 5. The UK Government will create a new regime to oversee its Levelling Up missions, establishing a statutory duty to publish an annual report analysing progress and a new external Levelling Up Advisory Council.
According to the White Paper, over time, these five pillars acting in combination will improve the information and incentives facing decision-makers locally and nationally, and strengthen the institutions driving local transformation. And it is those shifts in the system of governance and government across the UK that will anchor success in meeting the medium-term Levelling Up missions.
If you want to see what we thought of the White Paper you can see the output of our discussions at Levelling Up - A Response to the White Paper
The Future Role of the BBC
We’ve also had a separate discussion on the Future Role of the BBC which you can view at The Future Role of the BBC. If you’ve never seen it the BBC Charter is available at Broadcasting Royal Charter (bbc.co.uk). It's worth looking at the section on its Independence, Mission and Public Purposes; we’ve extracted this as an introduction to our output, so you might like to look at that instead along with our list of recommendations. See if you agree with them.
Government Information that may interest you
As usual we highlight three more examples of information on Parliament activity and outputs which may interest you:
- Education and Levelling Up Opportunity for all - Strong schools with great teachers for your child (publishing.service.gov.uk)
- UK COVID-19 Inquiry: draft terms of reference (HTML) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . This inquiry will examine, consider and report on preparations and the response to the pandemic in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
- And something to bring a warm glow to your hearts Government efficiency, transparency and accountability - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Forthcoming Discussion
Our discussion for April is not yet set but will be shortly. Keep an eye on Topic of the Month to see what we select as the next topic and the associated agenda.
There’s never any shortage of discussion topics, but is there anything that you’d particularly like us to discuss? Do let us know by replying to this email.
As ever, if you would like to attend the meeting just reply to this email and we’ll send you details.
Why not join a Group?
If you’d like to join one of the Probably42 discussion groups held via videoconferencing, just email in response to this newsletter and we’ll send you more details. We very much want a diversity of viewpoints, so you can be sure your views will be welcomed. Remember it’s about relaxed discussion and having an enjoyable time, with hopefully some useful ideas identified.
We also want to encourage face-to-face real world discussion groups, as feeders into the main online discussions. If you’d like to find out more about the one in Berkshire, or if you’d like to see one start in your area, just email in response to this newsletter and we’ll send you details.
Feedback
We always welcome any feedback, thoughts, ideas or questions about Probably42. Simply reply to this newsletter and you’ll receive a personal reply.
All the best
Tony