Business leaders call for National Prosperity Scorecard

Ten of the country’s top business leaders have called for a National Prosperity Scorecard to measure ‘levelling up’ against a set social and economic indicators.

In a report published today (28 April), the Covid Recovery Commission has also called for an industry cluster in every part of the UK by 2030, as part of a blueprint to help the UK recover from the pandemic.

The report argues that ‘the pandemic has had a bigger impact on our economy than any event in the last 300 years’.

An analysis by the commission reveals that the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities with unemployment, mortality rates and mental health cases rising fastest in the most deprived communities across the UK.

It also shows that 18% of the most deprived people – 1.15m people – in the UK are living in local authorities with the highest economic output.

Key to the Prosperity Plan is the creation of a National Prosperity Scorecard, the  commission argues.

This would set specific metrics against the government’s ‘levelling up’ plans to assess and track progress on a key set of social as well as economic indicators including employment and benefit dependency rates as well as health and educational outcomes.

Local leaders would also be tasked with developing their own local prosperity plans to help drive growth in every part of the UK.

‘A National Prosperity Scorecard will be key to evaluating to evaluating the success or failure of local plans to level up communities,’ said commission chair, John Allan.

‘By looking beyond purely economic measures, it could also act as a vital warning light for local communities. Measures on the scorecard should include issues which are important to families such as mental and physical health, community resilience and transport connectivity. They should be set by central government but then it should be up to local leaders to drive local action.’

Responding to the report, Helen Barnard, director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said: ‘A good job should be a route out of poverty and a firm foundation on which to build a better life for yourself and your family. Yet even before the pandemic, many of the risks of the labour market were being borne by employees themselves and 13% of workers lived in poverty. To be of benefit to everyone, the commission is right that the UK’s recovery must have a truly national ambition and impact.

‘As we move out of lockdown, it is essential that the government delivers on the promised Employment Bill and builds an economy which delivers stability – for businesses and workers alike. It’s not right that for too many workers, access to better jobs is restricted by where they live, the skills they can access or a lack of flexible roles. The commission is right that business, government and local leaders must work together to narrow this gap in order to truly level up the UK.’

Photo Credit – Jamie Hailstone