2021 Manifesto FINAL DRAFT - Flipbook - Page 22
Too often, politicians talk about
poverty and deprivation in vague
terms, rather than understanding
how it blights the lives of whole
communities every day. If we
compare a map of the most
deprived areas of our region 25
years ago with a map of these
areas now, it’s clear that very
little has changed. The financial
and social capital, opportunities,
housing, transport links and other
factors mean that getting by and
getting on is far more difficult in
some communities than it is in
others. We need to move beyond
targeting support to individuals
and work on developing our least
well-off communities too.
The WMCA’s Strategic Economic
Plan, Industrial Strategy and
Inclusive Growth Unit are a
starting place to address
inequality, but still rely on the
traditional levers of the free
market and private business to
drive growth, the “rising tide lifts
all boats” theory, which has been
proved false. They do little to
counter the effects of years of
austerity on public services and
the changes this has driven in the
labour market.
To truly build an economy fit for
the 21st century we must look to
community wealth building,
where we stimulate the economy
through our anchor institutions
such as hospitals, universities and
integrated public services.
Community wealth building is an
intentional reorganisation of the
local economy in order to tackle
the inequities and disadvantages
that are today, more than ever, so
acutely felt in our homes and
communities across the UK.
We absolutely need growth that
genuinely benefits everyone and
every area, and we need everyone
in the WMCA to own and
understand this issue and share
this agenda.
Economy
Over half of all children in the
West Midlands now live in
households that don’t receive
enough money to achieve a
lifestyle most people would say is
the minimum acceptable in our
society (the ‘minimum income
standard’). If we can change that,
everyone will benefit.