The levelling up and regeneration bill

There’s something about the Government’s much-vaunted plans for ‘levelling up’ that brings out their verbose side. The initial white paper on the subject from February totalled 332 pages….and this week’s Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill extended to a whopping 338 pages, with a 248 page side order of ‘explanatory notes’. Easy reading it isn’t.

Future proofing places

‘Creating healthier communities’ has been a priority for successive UK Governments throughout my 20-year professional career. The burden for delivering this enormous task however has usually been (unfairly) left at the door of healthcare professionals, despite the obvious imperative to develop actions to keep people away from the healthcare system.

Enough about Net-Zero: What about near-zero?

Hands up all those who think COP26 feels like years ago, rather than just four months ago? Whilst the conference can be described at best as a ‘qualified success’, a striking element of its outcome was the sheer number of 30 to 40 year targets for decarbonisation, with little focus on the immediate work needed to limit climate change.

The levelling up white paper

Huge thanks to the tour de force that is Simon Ricketts for inviting Iain Thomson onto his Clubhouse podcast with Catriona Riddell and Victoria Hutton to talk through the Government’s recently published (and eagerly awaited) Levelling Up White Paper.

The Green Green Belts of Home

Building enough new homes in the right places is an evergreen economic and social priority for the UK. A cursory glance at recent national and local headlines reveal a holy smorgasbord of invective in doing this however…..

Abandoning HS2 Phase 2b: A disaster that most don’t realise

What does the Government mantra of ‘levelling up’ actually mean? A quick google search suggests I’m not the only one who’s curious as to what the definition is, which areas it applies to, or what success looks like.