Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Speaking to an audience of local authority leaders and central government policy makers at the East of England Urban Summit on 22 June, Marlow called for a third string of government policy on cities, to complement what he sees as “the current focus on London and a handful of big cities in the north.”

He advised Brown to, “back the full team, not just a few star players,” citing evidence from a new report, ‘A framework for urban collaboration in the East of England.’

Marlow said: “Today’s report confirms what we’ve been saying for some time – small cities matter. Our region as a whole is performing well – and we are gearing up to deliver half a million new homes by 2021 - but we are not yet realising the full potential of places in the east. We have the ambition and we’re ready to go. But we won’t fulfil our potential if the government sees smaller cities as a sideshow.

“We welcome the new Prime Minister into his post. I’m calling on him to set out a new settlement for urban areas. Back the full team, not just a few star players. Provide greater incentives for local authorities to work across old administrative boundaries to capture economic opportunity. And don’t be reluctant to invest government money in the Greater South East where you’ll get an excellent return.”

The report, ’A framework for urban collaboration in the East of England,’ provides detailed analysis of 24 towns and cities in the region. It concludes that central government’s ambitious plans for growth are undeliverable without the active engagement of medium-sized towns and cities in the East of England.

The report says the Government is drawing a distinction between “big cities” and “the rest”, calling the situation “profoundly unhelpful.”

It also concludes that areas that are able to plan on the basis of their real economic footprint will tend to outperform those that are “hamstrung by tightly drawn boundaries.”

The report was launched at the Urban Summit, where 100 local authority leaders and government figures gathered to debate how the potential of the East of England’s urban areas can be used to boost the economic performance of the region as a whole.

The report follows hot on the heels of another published on the 18 June which calls more targeted investment in the East of England, the South East and London - the Greater South East – calling the area the powerhouse for the rest of the economy.

A full copy of the latest report is available at www.eeda.org.uk