The concept of anchor institutions – organisations rooted in a place that can play a defining role in creating and reinforcing local economic ties – has been present in the UK for over 10 years.
From starting up a network to maximising its impact, from big city to satellite town, local authority-led networks to those that have engaged the private sector, How to Build an Anchor Network provides an overview of the different types of networks and the advantages (and disadvantages) associated with them, and how best to exercise your collective power once it is harnessed.
The new government seem bullish in their commitment to providing authorities with multi-year funding settlements and ending wasteful competitive bidding. Meanwhile a Bill proposed in last week’s Kings Speech will see more power devolved to the local level, albeit via combined authorities.
This article originally appeared in the LGC.
At this year’s spring budget, the government announced the creation of eight freeports across England to promote regional regeneration, create high-skilled jobs and ensure sustainable economic growth.
Social value has traditionally been associated with procurement activity and the use of social value frameworks. Over the last 18 months, however, the Government has published a raft of procurement policy notices, which encourage the adoption of more progressive practice to support local economies and enable more SMEs and social businesses to enter public sector supply chains. This guidance was reaffirmed and strengthened within last year’s procurement green paper and, following public consultation, the publication of the Government’s new Procurement Bill is now imminent.
This article first appeared in the HSJ.
Despite the claim that unemployment has now peaked, and reports of record vacancies in some sectors, 1.6 million people face uncertainty in the workplace as the furlough scheme comes to an end in the UK. In this context, increased youth unemployment is predicted to be a painful hangover from Covid-19 in the UK as we undergo wider economic recovery.
Last Friday we had the final Birmingham Anchor Network co-ordination group meeting of 2020. As this turbulent year draws to a close our main agenda item was the agreement of the Network’s priorities for 2021. However, I think because of the proximity to Christmas, a number of the usual attendees (who are either Chief Exec or director level) had to send replacements who, in the main, were more operationally focussed.
For the past six months the procurement leads from the seven Birmingham Anchor Network partners have been sharing ideas as to how they can use procurement opportunities to increase their contribution to the Birmingham economy, particularly by engaging socially generative SMEs and micro businesses.
As I said in my last blog, the concept of anchor institution networks has taken hold across many areas of the UK, with a number of places either having launched a network or in the process of developing one. But what are the essential components of a successful anchor institution network? And how adaptable are those components to local circumstances?
Getting buy in for a new anchor institution network is rarely a problem. After all, why would any institution’s chief executive turn down the offer to be a part of something that will help them to employ local people and support local businesses. The real difficulty is turning that buy in into action. To this end there are (at least) two main problems:
From “why?” to “how?”
At the Community Wealth Building Summit earlier this month, and through our ongoing conversations with local governments and anchor institutions across multiple scales and sectors, we at CLES have seen the enthusiasm with which the ideas behind anchor institution networks have been greeted. This is a movement that is growing, as more and more institutions see the value of collectively working to ensure that their joined-up approaches to spending, employment and the use of their assets can affect the social determinants of health and wellbeing. Amidst that enthusiasm, now is the time to move the discussion on – from the “why” to the “how”.
Opening up the conversation
As the “man on the ground” in Birmingham, Conrad has been embedded in the practice of the anchor network there and in the emerging network in neighbouring Sandwell for nearly 12 months and is keen to share, not only the lessons learned and his reflections on how these can be applied in other places, but also to open up a conversation with other places on their experiences. “This is a new area” he said, “we can see that people have bought into the idea, that they really see the value that anchor networks can create. But what people really want to know is what that means in their place. I hope I can share some insights into how the theory actually translates into action but I want to hear from other people too – what’s worked for you? What hasn’t? And why? I want to open up a conversation that can help us all push forward the anchor network model so that it has the opportunity to improve the lives of more people in more communities.”
Close neighbours, different approaches
Reflecting on his experience working with Birmingham and Sandwell, and the discussion he hosted at the Community Wealth Building Summit, Conrad was keen to emphasise the important lessons he’d learned by exploring the differences between the two places which, while being geographic neighbours, have had very different approaches to developing their anchor institution networks.
This Thursday, CLES will host our annual Community Wealth Building Summit and, ahead of the Summit, we are today releasing Owning the Economy: Community Wealth Building 2020.
