‘Across a range of indicators of inequality, the UK is displaying Eurovision Song Contest levels of underperformance'. Not my words, but those of Local Government Association president and UK2070 Commission chair Lord Kerslake, who delivered a keynote at the Institute of Economic Development's annual conference.

Titled The Challenge of Change – economic strategies for a new era, in many ways his opening remarks encapsulated the challenge for local and regional governments in delivering the economic development and inclusive growth that we all crave for the future.