Reviving Regions: regional scorecards and growth priorities

The UK has a longstanding productivity challenge

Productivity growth has stagnated since the financial crisis, and this has had a knock-on impact on wage growth and living standards.

Within the CBI’s 2020 report Reviving Regions we set out a series of recommendations to close productivity gaps, and level up the country. These recommendations focused on how to build vibrant local labour markets, how to transform local physical and digital infrastructure to facilitate new ways of working, and how to inspire world-class, innovative businesses to invest in all regions.

These recommendations were underpinned by the idea that interventions must reflect local needs, and that regions should be further empowered if we are to level up the country. This becomes increasingly important given the impacts of the pandemic could affect regions differently.

The CBI’s regional scorecards and growth priorities

In order to support policymakers and businesses understand the unique strengths of regions, and areas of focus for interventions, the CBI has developed a series of scorecards. These provide insights into the economic and social health of the nine English regions, alongside a more detailed picture for sub-regions.

The scorecards include 20 different indicators, focused on a region’s productivity and some of the factors that can influence it. As well as this we have considered metrics such as deprivation and life satisfaction, recognising that productivity alone is not the only factor we should consider in order to level up the country.

Sitting alongside the scorecards for the nine English regions are a series of growth priorities. These have been developed in consultation with local businesses, reflecting both the recommendations within Reviving Regions, as well as the data within the scorecards. These set out top priorities for the local business community and indicate their commitment to work with local and national government to level up their region.

You can find a link to the following nine regional scorecards below: East of England, East Midlands, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber. Within each scorecard pack you will find a series of sub-regional scorecards which will provide local insights, as well as the growth priorities. You will also find details of the regional policy lead, should you have any questions, or would like to get involved in the implementation of the growth priorities for your region.

If you have any questions about how to read the scorecards or would like to receive individual scorecards to compare different geographies, please contact Hannah.