City Talks: How can we achieve inclusive growth?

In this month’s episode, Andrew is first joined by Alexandra Jones (Chief Executive of the Centre) and Naomi Clayton (Policy and Research Manager at the Centre) to discuss what the spring Budget means for cities. Looking at the Government’s business rates relief measures, the introduction of T-levels and the rise of self-employment, the team give their insights on what this means for cities.

The big issue scrutinised in this month’s podcast is how to make growth inclusive? To tackle this tricky question, Andrew Carter is joined by panellists Katie Schmuecker, Head of Policy at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Dr Neil Lee, Assistant Professor of Economic Geography at the LSE.

They consider what inclusive growth actually means, how it can be achieved and whether it is even desirable. Asking why the majority of people experiencing poverty live in a working household (a staggering figure of 3.8 million people in the UK) Andrew and his guests turn to the UK’s long-standing poor productivity performance compared to some of our competitor nations. With automation on the rise, especially in low skilled sectors such as retail, the panel goes on to consider what the future of work holds and question whether universal basic income is a potential solution.