Economy Of England's North Crippled By UK Government's Austerity Policies - Report

The UK government's austerity policies have put brakes on the economy of the England's North, which diminished the effect of the Northern Powerhouse policies intended to breathe life into the region, a fresh report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North revealed on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2019) The UK government's austerity policies have put brakes on the economy of the England's North, which diminished the effect of the Northern Powerhouse policies intended to breathe life into the region, a fresh report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North revealed on Friday.

The Northern Powerhouse agenda was introduced in 2014 to boost the economy of the historically underperforming region by increasing investment and improving transport infrastructure, particularly in the agglomeration comprising the cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Hull.

"In several ... respects the government has held back the North. Most significantly this agenda has proceeded against a backdrop of austerity," the report says.

According to the IPPR, public spending in the North was cut between 2009/10 and 2017/18 financial years by 3.6 billion Pounds ($4.6 billion at current rate) against a total increase of 4.7 billion pounds in real terms in the South East and the South West and just a 256-million pounds cut in London.

Since the introduction of the Northern Powerhouse agenda, the number of children living in a poor household in the region increased by a third to 800,000, the report says.

The United Kingdom began implementing austerity measures in various sectors of public life since the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. The University College London, in a report released in 2017, linked 120,000 deaths to the government's cutbacks.