State Of The Nation : Injection of sustained investment is needed, says leader

The State Of The Nation report that ranked Newark and Sherwood one of the worst places to live for people from disadvantaged backgrounds has uncovered a stark picture of under-investment in young people.

Newark and Sherwood District Council said the report identified a local lottery, where there was little social progress for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The council said Newark and Sherwood needed an urgent injection of sustained investment to overcome the challenge of social immobility.

It said the area faced three big challenges that had not featured as priorities for successive governments:

• A historic dependence on declining traditional industries, which left a legacy of low skills and low aspirations.
• Poor educational performance over decades.
• Under-investment in infrastructure that resulted in poor connectivity and economic productivity.

The authors of the report, the Social Mobility Commission, said government had a leading role to play in tackling the local lottery in social mobility.

The leader of the district council, Mr Roger Blaney, agreed and repeated a call for a major investment plan.

“Newark and Sherwood has a strong economy,” he said.

“We have created jobs and reduced unemployment to 1.3%, well below the national average.

“But this strength is undermined by social and structural weaknesses, which mean opportunity is not available to everyone.

“Many communities in the East Midlands have been left behind as London and the south-east of England have prospered. This is a challenge that needs to be met with urgency.”

Road infrastructure problems

Mr Blaney wants support from government with a new three-point plan for schools, infrastructure and up-skilling workers.

The council said secondary school improvements should be built on by ensuring schools were properly funded and did not have to make further budget cuts.

It called for an injection of new funds into programmes to work with 18 to 24 year-olds so they did not become a lost generation.

The council pointed to chronic infrastructure problems that were holding back the economy, particularly road infrastructure such as the A46/A1 around Newark and the A614 in the west of the district.

It said the A46 around Newark was one of the most important infrastructure priorities for the East Midlands.

It said the single-carriageway road and sub-standard junctions to the A1 led to significant congestion and had a major impact on local, regional and national economic productivity.

The district council, Nottinghamshire County Council and others have been pressing Highways England and the government to accelerate investment in a scheme to dual the stretch between the Farndon and livestock market roundabouts and improve the A1 junctions, but those improvements are unlikely to be delivered in the next decade.

As part of its case for improved roads, the district council called for the Government to support its bid for £35m from the Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock Newark’s southern relief road from Farndon to Fernwood, which is linked to the delivery of 3,150 homes, and its separate bid for £4m to improve Ollerton Roundabout on the A614.

The council also wants a borrowing cap on its Housing Revenue Account to be lifted so more social housing could be built.

It said it had been in talks with the government for more than a year about becoming a pilot in delivering social housing and would be able to build an additional 200+ homes for social rent if it could have flexibility around the use of right-to-buy receipts and an extension on the borrowing cap.

'It is time we had rural deals'

The council also wants government help for work to be done with local employers on up-skilling the local workforce and improving productivity.

It said careers advice in schools needed to be improved so young people could make informed career choices.

Mr Blaney said: “Services cost more to run in rural areas and economic opportunities are harder to find for those who really need them.

“Rural areas need to be the focus of attention for government to prevent them falling further behind.

“It is time we had rural deals, new funding streams and a rural commission to keep the spotlight on areas that are falling behind.

“This is a regional issue — ten of the poorest areas on the list are in the East Midlands.

“If you don’t invest in education, infrastructure and connectivity, with the example of broadband, this is what you get.”