A BARNSLEY MP has described the Northern Powerhouse Project as an ‘abject failure’ and said places like Barnsley have been left ‘worse off’.
This week marked the five-year anniversary of the government’s Northern Powerhouse project intended to address the North South divide and rebalance the UK economy.
Barnsley East MP Stephanie Peacock said five years on, research suggest that results have fallen short of the former chancellor George Osborne’s promises.
New independent analysis by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) North has outlined some improvements, such as the devolution of some powers through the creation of ‘metro mayors’ but suggests that the project has overwhelmingly failed to have the intended impact.
Amongst their findings, IPPR North states that the project has proceeded amidst a £3.6bn cut from public spending in the North since 2010, compared to a £4.7bn rise in the South East and South West.
The number of cancelled and late trains in the North has more than doubled from 20,000 in 2014/15 to 47,000 in 2018/19.
Meanwhile, the think tank has stated that 200,000 more northern children are living in a poor household, meaning there are 800,000 children living in poverty in the North.
“As we’ve come to expect from this government, affluent areas in the South and London continue to prosper whilst the North and towns in it like Barnsley are neglected,” said the MP.
“What started as a raft of bold promises about addressing generational inequality have proved to be an abject failure, and many places in the North have been left even worse off.
“Missed targets and token gestures for good PR by the Tories just won’t cut it anymore. Places like Barnsley deserve proper investment and an effective industrial strategy that properly addresses the neglect we’ve experienced for too long.”
