The writer is managing director of SSE Enterprise

The UK election campaign rightly highlighted the importance of economic growth. To achieve this, unlocking the potential of towns and cities across the entire country is key.

Local leaders and mayors aren’t waiting for progress from Whitehall or Westminster to do this. They’ve been rolling their sleeves up and getting on with it themselves, forging alliances that will deliver for their local communities. More of this is needed, with mayors and local leaders harnessing their potential power as policy innovators, to catalyse private investment in an inclusive transition to a clean energy economy. 

Supercharging regional growth

Devolution is key to this. But despite this process beginning 25 years ago, recent research by the Harvard Kennedy School suggests the economic gap between the South East region (which includes London) and the rest of the UK is now greater than that between the north and south of Italy. This disparity also exists regarding an inequality in skills — particularly for science, technology, engineering and maths-based careers. 

The study also shows that if our non-London cities had the same skills profile as the national average, and saw the cluster benefits typical of western European cities of similar size, the UK’s gross domestic product could rise by £55bn, bringing in around £13bn of additional tax revenue every year. 

This is a big prize. And clean energy is a vital lever for driving this much-needed economic growth across the country. It has broad public support, attracts significant private sector investment, creates skilled jobs and will leave a lasting legacy for future generations.  

That’s why we at SSE are committed to one of the largest investment programmes the UK has ever seen; more than £20bn to be invested right here in the UK this decade. But unlocking this investment will need the right partnership between industry and local and regional government.

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Power in partnerships

Let’s take electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure as an example. By joining forces with TotalEnergies to create Source, a new major player in EV charging, we want to roll out 300 ultra-rapid charging hubs across the UK and Ireland over the next five years.

However, it currently takes several months just to get planning permission. Multiply that across hundreds of sites and you see the problem: investment and growth are hobbled. Speeding up decision making by prioritising these growth-enabling sectors is crucial.

That’s why we should be encouraging local leaders and metro mayors to be nimble, risk-taking and entrepreneurial policy innovators. This means enabling strategic, place-based, local area plans to decarbonise their regions. This matters because consistent policies that support growth are very attractive to investors. The CBI estimates there is £74bn ready to be deployed in the UK’s so-called ‘net-zero economy’. Those entrepreneurial mayors and local leaders who act fast will win a disproportionate share of that investment pie. 

Once a strategic plan is in place, the next step is forming the right strategic partnerships with the private sector to deliver it. The private sector can bring technical expertise and unlock greater private investment into a pipeline of projects. 

Take, for example, the energy partnerships and collaborations that SSE has signed with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, West Midlands Combined Authority, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Newcastle City Council since last September. These agreements will see SSE invest into local energy projects such as low-carbon district heating networks, ground and roof solar arrays, and EV (including electric heavy goods vehicle) charging hubs over the next five years. They also aim to create a green-skilled workforce, with long-term, high-quality careers in the low-carbon sector by working with key, regional stakeholders.

Once-in-a-century challenge

Changing the way we power, heat and transport our homes, everyday lives and businesses is a big job. It just might be the biggest challenge of the 21st century. 

In the past, big changes to our economy have often left working class people behind with the state having to step in. At SSE, we want to work with mayors and local leaders to deliver economic growth across the country.

The new UK government has recognised this opportunity in its first days in office by inviting mayors and local leaders to develop long-term growth plans, which forms part of its major programme of devolution. My message is simple: by working together we can shape the fair and just transition we all want to bring to local communities across the country.

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