On 27 September 2026, the Labour Party Conference fringe event, Putting Place at the Heart of Growth: How Evidence Can Make Multilevel Governance Work, brought together policymakers, researchers, local government leaders, universities, colleges and organisations working across communities and regions.
Provocation
Before the event, attendees were sent a provocation. The provocation argued that successful devolution and economic growth require more than transferring powers and funding from central government to places. Drawing on evidence from the LPIP Hub and City-REDI, it highlighted the importance of building local capability, institutional capacity, and long-term governance arrangements alongside fiscal devolution. The document emphasised that strong relationships, effective funding systems, robust business case development, and sustained policy commitment are essential to reducing regional inequalities and unlocking growth across the UK. It concluded with recommendations to prioritise capability-building, invest in local governance capacity, reform Whitehall practices, and provide stable, long-term support for place-based development. (You can download the provocation below.)
Speakers
The discussion featured contributions from:
- Des McNulty, Chair, UKRI Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub and Honorary Professor, Glasgow Caledonian University
- Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire
- Professor Rebecca Riley, Director, Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Regional Engagement) and Co-Director City-REDI, University of Birmingham
- Mayor Chris Cooke, Deputy Chair, Public Service Reform and Innovation Committee, Local Government Association
- Gayle Boyle, EPIC Futures Northern Ireland (NI’s Local Policy Innovation Partnership)
- Jack Shaw, Director, Groundwork Research.
Alongside representatives from academia, government and regional organisations. The event explored how devolution can support economic growth, improve public services and create greater prosperity across different places.
The discussion
The discussion highlighted the importance of stronger local institutions, distributed leadership, long-term investment strategies and effective collaboration between government, universities, businesses and communities. Research also demonstrated that fiscal devolution alone will not reduce regional inequalities unless it is accompanied by adequate capacity-building, equalisation mechanisms and reforms to the way central government works with places.
Overall, the event reinforced a central message: place-based growth works best when policies reflect local strengths, local challenges and local opportunities. Whether through skills, innovation, transport, housing, health or economic development, places need both the freedom and the capability to design solutions that fit their circumstances while contributing to national priorities and long-term inclusive growth.
“The success of devolution will depend less on the institutional architecture alone than on whether it creates a more capable, collaborative and adaptive system of government.”
Steve Barwick, LPIP Hub
As the next phase of devolution is implemented, policymakers, local leaders and public institutions must move beyond debates about structures and powers alone. The priority should be building the capability of places to lead growth, deliver public services and respond to local challenges.
This means investing in local and regional capacity, supporting collaboration across institutions, creating long-term and stable funding arrangements, strengthening data and evidence capabilities, and ensuring that Whitehall reforms its own practices to work more effectively with places. By placing capability, partnership and local knowledge at the centre of policy, the UK can create a more resilient, productive and inclusive model of growth that works for all regions and communities.
Key findings from the event
The discussion pointed towards a model of devolution that is long-term, place-based, collaborative and focused on outcomes rather than institutional structures.
Several principles emerged:
- Devolution should be judged by what it enables places to achieve, rather than simply by the number of powers or funding streams transferred.
- Capacity and capability must accompany responsibility. Local institutions need the people, expertise, data and resources required to exercise new powers effectively.
- Leadership should be distributed. Mayors and strategic authorities have important roles, but successful place-based growth depends on universities, colleges, businesses, councils, health bodies and communities working together.
- Different functions may require different geographical scales. Governance should enable collaboration rather than forcing every service into a single footprint.
- Economic strategies should build on distinctive local assets. Places should develop from their existing capabilities rather than competing to replicate the same economic model.
- Skills policy needs both market intelligence and long-term planning, with stronger links between employers, education providers and regional economic strategies.
- Innovation policy must support diffusion and adoption as well as research and invention, ensuring that new technologies and knowledge benefit businesses and communities more widely.
- Fiscal devolution requires equalisation. Greater local financial autonomy should not undermine national commitments to equitable public services and opportunities.
- Central government must adapt as well. Devolution requires a different relationship between Whitehall and places, based on partnership, co-design, shared expertise and greater cross-government coordination.
- Evidence, data and learning are fundamental. Places need the capacity to understand local economies and populations, assess what works and share lessons with other areas.