How can government work with the private sector to help levelling up?

The long-awaited government white paper on levelling up is due to be published in early 2022, but the government alone cannot pay for the policies needed to help the UK’s left-behind areas. So what can ministers do to involve the private sector in shaping and delivering the levelling up agenda? What more can be done to unlock greater private sector investment? How can private investment deliver social as well as economic impact? What lessons can be drawn from previous public-private partnerships to deliver major infrastructure improvements? To discuss these questions, the IfG was delighted to host an expert panel including: Kevin Hollinrake MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking and member of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee Stephen Muers, Chief Executive Officer at Big Society Capital Sara Williams, CEO of the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce John Wrathmell, Director, Strategy, Research and Economy at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The event was chaired by Dr Gemma Tetlow, Chief Economist at the Institute for Government. We would like to thank Big Society Capital for supporting this event.