Student addresses policy-makers on ‘Levelling Up’ agenda

A St Catharine’s student has addressed decision-makers in the Houses of Parliament during an event providing feedback on an important Government programme known as the Towns Fund.

A core component of the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda, the £3.6 billion Towns Fund was established in 2019 with the aim of driving the sustainable economic regeneration of towns in England to deliver long-term economic and productivity growth.

In March 2021, Laurence Fredricks, a third-year Land Economy undergraduate, was selected by the Towns Fund to join a panel of unpaid volunteers representing a range of geographical areas across England, backgrounds and viewpoints, which was appointed to review the Fund’s activities by looking at opportunities to improve equality, diversity, inclusion and sustainable growth. He explains:

“The panel was appointed around the time I was looking for work experience opportunities and reaching out to my local council (Sefton Council) about the Towns Fund as this was particularly relevant to my degree. My local area was awarded £37.5 million, one of the largest awards by the Fund. I was told that a panel was being created to examine the Fund and how it could perform better, and that I’d be a good fit as they were specifically looking for ordinary people with some level of expertise to contribute.

“Alongside our experienced chair Kate Willard OBE, there are eighteen panel members in total, although I’m the only student in higher education. We decided to divide and conquer the different aspects of the Towns Fund and I chose to work with a group to examine issues associated with ‘capacity to deliver’. I’ve enjoyed working with the other panellists as well as the process of researching this theme, including interviewing board chairs and other key figures involved in policy delivery.”

This spring, the panel had the opportunity to present its findings and recommendations in Parliament to MPs, ministers, civil servants, journalists and representatives from organisations like Visit England and the Arts Council.

“My group’s three main recommendations were focused on increasing revenue funding to a practical proportion of overall funding with a minimum 1:3 split between revenue and capital funding, developing indicators for the successful evaluation of the Town Deals to understand what makes successful delivery, and improving overall access to, and quality of, information to strive for equality in outcomes for all towns in bidding processes.

“It seems obvious but those who are given the duty to deliver need the resources to do so: capital funding needs to be accompanied by significant revenue funding. Sadly, as I explained to the assembled audience, this hasn’t happened under the Towns Fund. Local communities have been left powerless without the staff, skills and know-how necessary turn capital investment into meaningful and lasting changes on the ground.”

Laurence intends to continue working with the panel over the next decade to examine the ongoing impact of policy on towns in England. He adds:

“I enjoyed this process so much and I’d recommend that other students reach out to local authorities in their area as you never know what experiences and opportunities might be available that align with your interests.”

Find out more about studying Land Economy at St Catharine's.