Local Government's Role in Attracting Investment

This research seeks to build upon a recommendation made by the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Force for Growth report, which called for the LGA to build an evidence base and share best practice on ‘promoting strategies for attracting and leveraging investment to deliver equitable, sustainable outcomes.

Review good practice in strategies for attracting investment: how can the four pillars identified in the Force for Growth report play a part in this; and what is the read across to the four following critical influencing factors

o Devolution – what does good sub-regional / regional collaboration look like; who should do what? How do sub-national bodies fit into the picture e.g. Subnational bodies: lessons learned from established and emerging approaches | Local Government Association?

o Funding and flexibility – how have councils innovated to maximise their efforts to attract investment; what talent do they need to help achieve this? What services are key? What are key datasets and information that they should provide?

o Political leadership – is there a long-term vision and strategy that sets out how the council seeks to attract investment?

o Connectivity across tiers – is it levering-in support from across the council, from regional partners and from government?

The research should tap into and seek to understand what public and private sector investors (including those overseas) are looking for, reviewing key insights from organisations such as: Confederation of British Industry, Federation of Small Businesses, British Chambers of Commerce, Make UK, Visit England, British Property Federation; it should draw out what they most value when looking to invest; how do they assess one opportunity from another.

It should serve as a guide for councils and in devolved areas, how they work with their constituent MSAs. It should also consider what the dynamic looks like for local authorities not yet in a devolved area.