There is a simple principle that applies as much to local government as it does to business, politics, or family life: people can achieve more together than they can apart. People seem to forget this when talking about the relationship between the public and private sectors.
I have been thinking about this a lot as I prepare to move from public to private after 30 years of service. To me it is clear the private sector is not the opposite of the public sector, or its enemy. The private sector is the partner of the public sector in achieving clean growth.
Clean growth is the name we in Bradford gave to our overarching economic strategy which aims to go beyond net zero.
Environmental targets are, of course, important. They need to be woven into a strategy that also creates economic growth, jobs and opportunity for all of our communities.
‘Clean’ and ‘growth’ need to be two sides of the same coin: they are both equally important, and both must arrive together. Clean growth must deliver not just a better environment but better jobs, better places to live and work, better public transport and routes for cycling and walking, better skills and careers.
That is how we deliver a better Bradford and inspire the people who live here to play their part. It is how we enthuse the private sector to invest in our vision, too. Because just as ‘clean’ and ‘growth’ are two sides of the same coin, so are ‘public’ and ‘private’.
Local government cannot bankroll the kind of transformational economic development that its towns and cities need. And, while sustainable growth often requires major capital investment from central Government to improve infrastructure and make sites more viable, even that is a matter of ploughing the field so the private sector can sow the seeds of long-term growth.
In my experience, the majority of the private sector buys into clean growth in all its aspects – economic, social and environmental.
Part of that may be cold, hard calculation – the market increasingly demands that business be aware of its wider responsibilities. Most business leaders I meet genuinely care about the people who work for them, and the people who use their services and buy their goods.
Most care about the place where they set up shop. They want it to thrive, and to be the best place it can be. In many cases the entrepreneurs who are changing Bradford have lived here all their lives.
How then can we best work together to achieve clean growth? There are two central components: clarity, and trust. Clarity refers to both the respective roles that public and private should play, and the goals that both are seeking to achieve.
In terms of roles, local authorities, among other things, must identify and prepare key development sites as investable propositions; win government backing and attract available seed-funding; and work to create a workforce with the necessary, future-proofed skills that the market needs.
It must work with central Government to provide the infrastructure to get people where jobs are in the most efficient and environmentally responsible way.
The private sector, meanwhile, must prioritise long-term gain over short-term profit; must take seriously its responsibilities to the place where it operates, and the people it employs and serves. It must recognise its role in developing skills and creating better places to live and work.
None of this works without trust. The key lesson for local government is that trust requires confidence, and confidence requires not just clarity, but action.
In Bradford, we have already created the UK’s biggest testbed for clean growth at Esholt, with one million square feet of prime workspace for ‘clean’ industries like biotech, agritech and cleantech. We will have Britain’s largest Clean Air Zone outside London, which will radically improve health outcomes and has allowed us to spend more than £30m modernising local transport.
Our successful bid to become UK City of Culture 2025 was built on clear plans to leverage culture as an economic driver for all our communities. And our plans for a clean growth ‘city village’ will bring large-scale, environmentally-friendly city living to a newly pedestrianised and cycle-friendly city centre, on a scale never seen in Bradford before.
These are exciting developments – for the private sector, as well as the people of Bradford.
Investors can see what is already happening, they see the clarity of our vision and trust in what is to come. They want to be part of our journey – and when they do that, they become part of Bradford, too.
Jason Longhurst is chair of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development and strategic director of place at Bradford City Council
@UK_BCSD @bradfordmdc
