2024: our greatest hits
As the year draws to a close, our Chief Executive, Sarah Longlands, looks back at the last twelve months of CLES’s work.
It has been a turbulent 12 months, with change – both good and bad – very much at the forefront on the domestic and international stages. Yet, despite the uncertainty of the times in which we find ourselves, at CLES we remain simultaneously pragmatic and optimistic about the power of our mission: delivering local economic change. As we wrote in our general election manifesto – Our Local Economic Future – change may be dreamt of by aspiring national leaders, but it is both delivered and felt in communities.
“the growth of ideas, of confidence, of time and of resources”
But this kind of change doesn’t happen by invoking economic growth as the key to every lock. The kind of change that our communities need comes instead from the growth of ideas, of confidence, of time and of resources: to challenge preconceptions and tired economic assumptions, to think differently and with ambition.
One of the ways in which we did this in 2024 was through a new report – Women’s Work. The result of 12 months’ collaboration with Leeds City Council and the Women’s Budget Group, the report found that the cost of gender inequality to the UK’s economy was around £88bn per annum, almost equivalent to the contribution of the whole of the financial sector. The report highlighted the many ways in which local and combined authorities can take action to improve the access of women to decent employment and called on national government to drive change in the longer term. The report was launched in Leeds by the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin. We are currently exploring a follow-up, looking at how designing greater flexibility into employment can help reduce poverty across the UK.
“change the fortune of people and place”
CLES’s work on procurement, public spend and social value continued apace in 2024. In April, we published a new report on social value in partnership with Manchester City Council – Changing Places. Procurement has come a long way in recent years, with appreciation of its economic and social power to change the fortune of people and place now widespread. This report highlighted that social value is not simply the end of a procurement process but is mission critical through the piece. A strong alignment between ambitions for place and the way in which we design and commission goods and services at a local level is vital. The report was complemented by case studies from across the UK, including our work on a points-based procurement system for Westminster City Council and an implementation guide for social value for Dublin City Council.
Work of this kind is part of CLES’s wider organisational commitment to easing the flow, circulation and ownership of wealth by our communities. This is in sharp contrast to the predominant economic model, which is overly owned and controlled by private interests that favour profit over supporting the places and people we love.
“valuable lessons for land governance”
Our report in November with the Scottish Land Commission – Securing Public Value From Natural Resources – looked at how these dynamics play out in the ground beneath our feet. The research examined different case studies from Scotland and beyond, offering valuable lessons for land governance. The result was six key principles which could be applied to maximise public value from land. In 2025, we’ll be building on this work to explore how a more equitable ownership of the economy can happen through the food system, employment progression and joint ventures.
“government needs to avoid falling into the trap”
We were also pleased to publish the findings of our close collaboration with Islington Council at the same time as the government launched its consultation on the future of the planning system in September. Powering up Planning – which was accompanied by a blog for the MJ – argued that the challenge for housing delivery in the UK has less to do with supply and demand and more to do with speculation and profit and that the government needs to avoid falling into the trap of further marketisation.
A key component of our work in recent years has been in exploring how anchor institutions, like councils, hospitals and colleges, can work collaboratively to unlock their economic potential to deliver improvements for the places they serve. Bringing together this learning How to build an anchor network, drew on our work with anchors in the West Midlands. In a similar vein, our work with Colegau Cymru demonstrated how the social value of FE Colleges across Wales could be harnessed for public good.
“scaling and deepening”
2024 was also a pivotal year for our continued work on English devolution, particularly through our flagship joint programme with the New Economics Foundation, the Centre for Thriving Places and Co-operatives UK, Reclaiming our Regional Economies. Working with the combined authorities of the North East, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands, CLES has been investigating how devolution can support the scaling and deepening of progressive economic approaches. Together we hosted a party conference fringe event with the mayors in September, and we will be continuing this work in the coming years.
Finally, health has been a prominent theme of CLES’s work in 2024 and is likely to remain at the top of the political agenda for the new government. Our recent publication on health and devolution – the first from our collaboration with the Kings Fund and the Health Foundation – will, we hope, help to inform the government’s attempts to strengthen English devolution in the coming months and years.
“commitment and creativity”
As we move into a new year, I am finding hope and motivation in the commitment and creativity of the people and organisations that CLES works with across the UK and Ireland. Regardless of the obstacles they face, they are committed to positive local change. Thanks to all of our partners, funders, friends and collaborators – we, quite literally, couldn’t do our work without you!
Thanks also to the CLES team in Manchester and across the UK, including our dedicated Trustees for their hard work, amazing analysis, insightful discussions, sparky new ideas and relentless pursuit of economic change.
Turbulent though these times may be, there is plenty still to explore, and even more to change – why not make it one of your new years resolutions to come and have a chat with us!
