Mechanisms of metagovernance as structural challenges to levelling up in England

Abstract

At the time of writing, the UK government is attempting to tackle place-based inequality through its ‘levelling up’ agenda. To be effective, such interventions require local institutions with the capacity, powers, and budgets to develop and implement long-term strategies. Multi-level metagovernance, the ongoing reorganisation of local governance systems by the central state, has become a salient political process in England, characterised by fragmented system design, distorted local strategies, micromanagement and mistrustful central–local relations. These various problems are underpinned by a problematic combination of quasi-markets and state hierarchy. Together, these metagovernance mechanisms significantly constrain local capacity to deliver economic development.