Cities Outlook 2008: More jobs in Northern cities, but still a long way to go

Date: 10/12/2007

Centre for Cities has today released a new report that shows half of the UK’s most improved cities, in terms of employment growth, are in the north. But, with below average employment rates, these northern improvers still have a long way to go. The report reveals worrying economic inequalities within all large cities, up and down the country. Cities Outlook 2008 exposes the complexities behind the north-south divide.

The report shows that out of the top ten improving cities - based on employment growth over ten years - half are northern, including Derby, Doncaster and Sunderland, in 4th, 6th and 7th place. However for four of these five northern cities employment rates are still considerably below the national average. Sunderland ranks almost bottom with 31% of the city’s working age population not in employment compared 26%, nationally.[i]

The report highlights the inequalities within as well as between cities up and down the country. Manchester, Birmingham and London each appeared in the report’s ranking of the ten most unequal urban areas, measured in terms of wealth and deprivation.[ii]

Across the city regions, the disparities are stark:

• Greater Manchester: 35% of Manchester’s working-age population are not in employment, compared to 20% in Stockport.
• Greater Birmingham: In Birmingham 37% of the working age population are not in employment, compared to 21% in neighbouring Solihull.
• Greater London: 47% of Tower Hamlet’s working-age residents are not in employment, compared to 22% in Sutton.

While these city centres have been physically transformed and regenerated, less than a mile from Manchester’s new Piccadilly Station and London’s Canary Wharf, entrenched pockets of worklessness and underperforming housing markets remain.

Centre for Cities is calling for cities to move beyond physical city centre redevelopment towards the next wave of regeneration by skilling up workless residents in the surrounding areas and by investing in transport networks, linking people to jobs.

Dermot Finch, Director of Centre for Cities said,

“These figures show that it’s less ‘grim up north’. Cities like Warrington and Doncaster are on the up, but need to sustain this momentum over many years if they are going to catch up with the likes of York and Milton Keynes.

“Our biggest cities like Birmingham, Manchester and London are polarised within their own boundaries. They need to address the deep-rooted wealth inequalities on their own patch, by moving beyond constructing shiny new buildings, if they are to continue to grow.”

Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said:

"The Centre for Cities has quite rightly recognised that improving economic performance relies on the devolution of powers and funding. Councils have not waited on the Government, but have got on with the job of renewing our towns and cities by building alliances with neighbouring authorities, local businesses and other partners. The Government must now do its part. We need a genuine devolution of powers and funding to a sub-regional and local level, as well as positive financial incentives for councils to promote the prosperity of their areas.

"Councils still lack the power and influence over transport, housing, planning, skills and worklessness that they need to fulfill the economic potential of their areas and compete with the best of their EU and US counterparts."

For more information, please contact:

Rosamund Taylor r.taylor@centreforcities.org
Tel: +44 (0)207 803 4316 / +44 (0)7876 175 426

Notes to Editors

Cities Outlook 2008 is available to download. The data in the report draws on the most recent releases from Government sources, covering the years 2004-2007.
The independent report was financially supported by the Local Government Association.

The Centre for Cities is an independent urban policy research unit. It is a registered charity (No 1119841) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England (No 6215397). Our main goal is to understand how and why economic growth and change takes place in Britain’s cities, and to help cities improve their economic performance.

[i] Not in employment includes those of working age that are inactive (e.g. in education, long-term disabled or sick, early retirement etc) and unemployed (those who want to work, are available to work and are actively seeking employment).

[ii] To show disparities within urban areas we used a standard indicator of deprivation: the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD 2004). We calculated inequalities as the difference (range) between most deprived and least deprived areas ('Super Output Areas') within cities - bigger differences indicating higher polarisation. The IMD includes income, employment, education, skills and training, health deprivation and disability, barriers to housing and services, crime and living environment