In the last ten years of an actuall longer of cut to education budget, it's been further education that's been hit hardest. Glasgow comes out terribly compared to lots and lots of other citiesan in the united kingdom. And i think this comes down to what is it do we mean by levelling up? The first is about tryingto, from economy perspectives, about trying to get every place to reach its potential. But we also have to note that that potential is different in different parts of the country, and some places are further away from that potential tan than others. So our big cityis actually a quey candidates for that. They trail well behind their western european counterparts
Is it possible to ‘level up’ the economy and help struggling places halt decline and become more prosperous? Paul Swinney is Director of Policy and Research at the think tank Centre for Cities and his research focuses on city economies and their development over time. He considers what strategies might be implemented to support declining town and city centres and if the government’s Levelling Up agenda is likely to deliver concrete results.
The prize-winning poet Paul Batchelor was born in Northumberland and often explores the lost worlds of Britain’s mining communities, and the memories that have survived. The title of his new collection, The Acts of Oblivion, refers to seventeenth-century laws that required not only the pardon of revolutionary deeds, but also made discussing them illegal. His poems rebel against such restrictions, and against forgetting.
In the forest landscape of northern Varmland in Sweden lies the village of Osebol. In just five decades, the automation of the lumber industry and the draw of city-living, has seen the adult population dwindling to a mere 40 residents. Marit Kapla grew up there, and in Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village she has returned and gathered the stories of all the inhabitants – from those whose families have lived there for generations, to the more recent arrivals. They tell of their griefs and joys, resentments and pleasures, and despite the village’s decline, life goes on.
Producer: Katy Hickman