The UK and Scottish Government must “join up to level up”, according to a new paper by Our Scottish Future released today.
The paper proposes that the two governments agree a “Framework for Reducing Inequality” based on the agreements Edinburgh and London struck on powers returning to the UK after Brexit.
Both governments now say that reducing inequalities is a top priority. But so far cooperation between the two has been skin deep.
The Our Scottish Future paper says that the two governments should agree on the principle that power must be pushed down as close to communities as possible – and says that the creation of directly elected provosts would help to drive action in local communities.
It concludes: “For levelling up to work in Scotland, we need governments to join up. Given economic development is a shared responsibility, we suggest that the UK and Scottish Governments formally agree a new ‘Common Framework on Inequality of Opportunity’. The successful agreement of such a Framework would have the substantial benefit of ending political rows around alleged “power grabs”.
With Scotland’s economic development landscape already in a cluttered state, such a Framework would also help prevent further duplication of effort and policy confusion.”
