Is Walsall facing the 'Hunger Games' of levelling up?

A weak local economy and a lack of highly skilled jobs are holding Walsall back from levelling up, according to a leading think tank.

Onward found that productivity was almost 30% below the national average.

The government recently awarded £20m to the Willenhall Garden City - a regeneration scheme bringing hundreds of new homes to Walsall borough.

But areas competing for government cash is akin to taking part in the Hunger Games, one local councillor says.

You'd be hard pushed to visualise green spaces and modern homes amid the remnants of Walsall's industrial past.

The old factories will eventually be replaced with an aspirational, leafy place to live - and along with new homes, parks and connectivity to the new railway station are planned.

But the low productivity of Walsall's workforce plus skills shortages are preventing progress and investment, says a report from the centre-right think tank.

Onward's deputy director, Adam Hawksbee, says the whole of the West Midlands faces the same challenge, but problems are "particularly acute" in Walsall.

"There are not enough high-productivity businesses," he explained, "and where they do exist they're not particularly well-connected to the rest of the borough."

The government funding could be transformative, Mr Hawksbee added, but said local leaders faced an "uphill struggle".

Walsall has a healthy college and post-16 education offer, but the route into work is tough.

Raised locally, Connor Horton, the borough's youngest councillor, is himself in the job market.

"I fully support Willenhall getting a fair share, because for a long time it's been neglected and a lot of people feel abandoned," the Labour councillor said.

"But it shouldn't be a Hunger Games-type situation where people are fighting against each other because a lot of communities have been left behind in these areas and abandoned.

"That's what young people feel growing up around here."

Walsall Council's hunger for investment is no game.

Alongside the M6, a vast former copper works will be transformed into an industrial park, bringing potentially 1,000 jobs.

Town centre improvements are on the cards too - and all with some £500m ready to go.

That said, the deputy leader of Walsall's Conservative-run council, Adrian Andrew, explained the think tank's report reaffirmed the issues "we knew we needed to tackle".

"It's not just about buildings, it is about skills and health as well as having access to better services," he said.

But he added: "I think levelling up will work, and has started to work when you see some of the investment we are starting to announce."

Most of the West Midlands bids to the second tranche of Levelling Up Fund were turned down, prompting the region's mayor Andy Street to accuse his fellow Conservatives of putting "party before place".

"We've had lots of civil servants in London presiding over decisions of lots of individual projects," he said.

"A much more sophisticated way - a better way - is to pass the money down to the regions and we decide."

The government said that as well as the £20m it had awarded to build more than 500 homes in Willenhall Garden City, it would spend another £20m to build more homes in Walsall town centre and "open up green spaces".

It added it was giving £21m to Bloxwich to "boost skills and grow the local economy".

Wedge Group Galvanising has been based in Willenhall for more than 150 years and has 14 plants across the UK.

Managing director Chris Woolridge said investment was crucial, but warned of the dangers of short-termism.

"There's a lot of short-term thinking in government, and levelling up is a great slogan and potentially a great policy, but it needs to outlive parliaments," he said.

"I would like to see a national infrastructure plan that all parties can get behind for the next 25 to 50 years."

In the meantime, Walsall residents are buckled up for more financial hardship. Critics question what levelling up really means to their area, and whether a one-size-fits-all approach from Westminster will fall at the first hurdle.

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