For their roundup of November 2023, David and Mike dissect announcements from the Autumn Statement on devolution and check in with UK policy on economic zones. They explore the pros and cons of the latest devolution deals, the emerging shape of Single Financial Settlements for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, and the LED lessons from supporting a cyber cluster at Cheltenham's Golden Valley Development.

Tom Forth is Head of Data at Open Innovations, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of The Data City. He is a high-profile writer on questions relating to UK industrial strategy, devolution, and regional inequalities in economic development. In this episode, David and Mike explore with Tom how innovations in the use of data science in economic development can help local leaders revitalise their economies. They discuss how these tools help us to understand the economic performance of Northern England's cities relative to their overseas peers.

Tom reflects on how improving our understanding of places is only half the battle: that without the ability or willingness to decentralise powers and funding to local government, the UK risks being wise to its economic problems but slow to fix them.

Join hosts David and Mike as they explore the pivotal role of business networks, like Chambers of Commerce, in shaping local economies with Staffordshire Chambers CEO Sara Williams OBE.

In this roundup of sector developments from October 2023, David and Mike dissect the UK's new Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, the National Infrastructure Commission's latest assessment of Britain's infrastructure needs, and 4-Day work week trials in local government.

In this roundup of sector developments from September 2023, David and Mike explore why the future of high speed rail, the precarious state local government finance, and mayors taking control of bus services in England are so important to the economic growth of places across the UK. What does Birmingham City Council effectively declaring bankruptcy mean for how it conducts placemaking? Why was HS2 always about so much more than conveying people in greater modernity and comfort between cities with existing rail connections? And how can setting bus routes and timetables through franchising services open up new sites for development? Tune in to find out!

In this episode, David and Mike explore what economic developers can learn from the Spanish women's national football team, and their success at the World Cup despite high-profile failures of management. They dive into the summer blockbuster film Oppenheimer, and how the Manhattan Project can inform mission-led policy in the age of climate change.  Is it possible to recreate the dynamism outside of an immediate national crisis, like a war or pandemic? And as they review the latest crop of UK government funding competitions, don't miss their take on the 'chess tables in parks' saga!

Curious about the future of devolution in England? Join David and Mike on LED Confidential as they sit down with Professor John Tomaney from University College London. Together they unravel devolution's impact on communities and economic growth. Hear why the current approach is failing to engage local people and the options for a more inclusive, effective decentralisation of power. Can reform of England's governance take a turn for the better? Tune in to find out!

Can inner-city densification and a new urban quarter for Cambridge get England out of its house building funk? Are large public subsidies for battery plants, like the proposed Tata Gigafactory factory in Somerset, the right way to modernise local economies? And what are the barriers to the tech revolution in public service delivery proposed by the Tony Blair Institute? Join David and Mike as they mull over another month in local economic development...

Bonus briefing available on the LEDC website!

Denser English cities won't happen without house building on the Greenbelt - as Cambridge shows (ledconfidential.co.uk)

Join David, Mike, and Oxford Professor Danny Dorling as they