The Government recently published its long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper, presenting an ambitious, decade-long policy agenda to change the UK’s economic geography and narrow the regional inequality gap through 12 levelling up missions.

As part of a series of events on what the White Paper means for various policy areas, the first panel discussion focused on the implications for English devolution, sponsored by the University of Manchester. The panel featured:

• Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice and Vice Dean for Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Manchester
• Dr Nicola Headlam, Chief Economist and Head of Public Sector at Red Flag Alert and former Head of the Northern Powerhouse Strategy Refresh
• Nicola Moss, Managing Director of Ipsos MORI North and Head of CSR for Ipsos MORI
• Chaired by Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities

Discussions focused on how further devolution might be delivered through the new three-tier model, what might be missing from the White Paper, what the current metro mayors want from central government, and the public’s views on devolving power to local areas.