Putting people at the heart of the northern powerhouse

People and communities should be at the heart of the northern powerhouse agenda, according to a report to be launched later today in the House of Lords.

Published by the People’s Powerhouse movement, it sets out an alternative vision of a north that works for everyone.

Its five ‘pillars of change’ include a good economy that works for more people, a focus on the value of all places in the north and a devolution process that ‘genuinely includes local people’.

‘Despite the fact that many places in the north are experiencing economic growth, the people who live in and around growth areas do not necessarily experience the benefits in their everyday lives,’ the report says.

It calls for the development of an ‘inclusion kitemark’ which could be awarded to organisations who ‘walk the talk’ and actively pursue more inclusive approaches.

Speaking to New Start ahead of the report’s publication, one of the founder members of the People’s Powerhouse movement, Tracy Fishwick, said it was borne out of a feeling that the ‘existing mechanisms to engage in the conversation around the northern powerhouse’ were exclusive.

‘You were either a business, paying to be part of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, led by George Osborne or part of the the Northern Powerhouse conference event in Manchester, run by an events company and incredibly expensive to get into,’ she said.

After an event about the northern powerhouse in February was criticised for being ‘very male dominated’, Ms Fishwick said several woman took to the social media platform Twitter, saying ‘this can’t be right’.

‘We felt lots of people have something to bring to the table in order to make the north more prosperous,’ she added. ‘It’s not just the domain of big business. It’s about all of us.’

‘We think a richer debate is possible by involving social enterprises, the public sector and housing organisations.’

Frustration around why economic growth is not benefitting everyone was also another reason why the People’s Powerhouse movement came together.

The report follows a People’s Powerhouse event in Doncaster earlier this year, which included a series of workshops and discussions with input from local people, businesses and representatives from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.

Fishwick said one of the big themes on the day was economic growth and whether ‘we need more growth or is it that the growth we already have is not reaching everybody?’

‘If you look at Manchester over the last 20 years, it has grown economically. There are buildings and business, but if you look at all the indices of inclusion, they have all got worse. Growth does not equate to being better for everybody. We have to do things to connect people to this prosperity.’

The current ‘patchy’ devolution process was another issue, she said. ‘Some areas have got devolution and some haven’t. Does that mean some areas will get more benefits and freedoms, and others won’t?’

‘It’s not just about Manchester and Leeds. It’s about places like Doncaster and Preston, the in-between places, where loads of people live.’

Another big theme at the conference and in today’s report is collaboration.

‘A lot of the people at the event had the leverage to do something different,’ she added. ‘They can do things by collaborating bigger. Social enterprises could have the answers local authorities are looking for in terms of new solutions. We are not creating enough opportunities for collaboration and letting go of traditional models of power and control and letting others in.

‘Lord Abebowale talked about it a lot [in the summer] and it really hit a chord with a lot of people. Andy Burnham said on the day “open up the doors of this powerhouse and let the people in”.

‘Compare that to the northern powerhouse agenda, where you are looking at trains, infrastructure and connectivity. I understand why they are looking at those things, because you need them. But it will not be enough on its own.’