While many UK high streets have experienced a much-needed boost thanks to the lifting of restrictions in April, shops, restaurants and pubs in London and other big cities continue to struggle.

Nine out of 63 cities and large towns have recovered to their pre-pandemic level of job postings, with the North and Midlands outperforming the South and South East.

According to Centre for Cities’ polling by Savanta ComRes, more than eight in ten people in city-regions support some form of greater devolution.

Centre for Cities research reveals almost ten million new private sector jobs will need to be created to reverse the damage done by the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic makes levelling up the North and Midlands four times harder and risks ‘levelling down’ the South.

Air pollution fell in the Spring but now exceeds pre-pandemic levels in 80% of places despite continued lockdown restrictions.

Official public spending rules are not a barrier to levelling up the country, but a lack of direction from Government is.

New data shows that Eat Out To Help Out is helping the high street, but workers are resisting the Government’s calls to get back to the office – with average weekday city centre footfall showing no change at all since early July. 

People in large cities and towns in Wales and Northern England have the most household debt and could be worst hit in the post-Covid economic downturn.

Congestion is holding back major cities, such as Manchester and Birmingham, where new transport infrastructure could help them add billions to the UK economy each year