IPPR North budget response: Government has given up on levelling up.

IPPR North Director, Zoe Billingham, reacts to measures on national insurance, local government finance and regional investment announced in the Spring Statement.

Zoe Billingham, IPPR North director, said:

“This Budget is the government's admission that it has given up on levelling up this parliament, despite there being much left to do. It’s decidedly unfinished business.

“Headline cuts to National Insurance mainly benefit people in the South East of England and are set against a backdrop of deep public concern about the state of public services. The country is crying out for public investment.

“Local government and our communities were provided with no substantive support today. Whilst demand, need and costs rise, more cuts to essential, local services will come as the result of the government’s decisions. The six-month continuation of the Household Support Fund is welcome, but only a sticking plaster.

“Elsewhere, modest steps forward on devolution deals and investment zones are welcome, but progress will be stifled if local government remains financially undermined.

"The clock is ticking yet nothing has fundamentally improved today for our regions."