Roundtable with Will Garton, Director General for Local Government, Growth and Communities, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Join this event to discuss how devolution and regional leadership can drive delivery of the UK's growth ambitions.
The UK’s Industrial Strategy sets a clear national direction, but successful delivery will happen in cities, regions and communities where investment, skills and innovation come together. Partnership between national and local government, the private sector, third sector, academia and communities is required to drive capacity, funding certainty and alignment translating national ambition into local growth. This event will bring together policymakers, business, third sector and university representatives to explore how place-based delivery can be strengthened, and what is required to bridge the gap between strategy and implementation.
Key discussion points
- How devolution settlements and local growth plans are being designed to give regions genuine agency in shaping industrial strategy delivery and where the current gaps between national policy and local capacity are
- How regional institutions, combined authorities, universities, and anchor employers, can build the collaborative infrastructure needed to align skills, investment, procurement and innovation around shared local growth priorities
- What the most significant policy, financial and institutional barriers to effective place-based industrial strategy delivery are and how national government and regional partners can collaborate to overcome them.
Will Garton is Director General for Local Government, Growth and Communities at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. He is responsible for leading the department’s work on local government, local growth policy, deepening devolution and faith & community work. He is further responsible for the legal and policy framework for elections.
Will was previously Director for Public Services at HM Treasury between March 2019 to March 2022, and before that was the Press Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Head of Communications.
Earlier in his career, Will held positions across HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
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Event places are non-transferable, but colleagues are welcome to email us at [email protected].