City Talks: Breaking down the Budget

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Sam Freedman, author of the Sunday Times best-seller 'Failed State' and co-author of the popular politics Substack ‘Comment is Freed’. They discuss the complexities of centralisation and explore if devolution can provide an answer to the UK’s economic problems

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership for the past ten years and previously a councillor for Newcastle. They discuss what's changed since Henri first entered the devolution space as well as the recent Budget, the fiscal devolution roadmap and the upcoming Rewiring the State delivery plan.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Jess Tulasiewicz, Head of Public Affairs and Policy, and Anthony Breach, Director of Policy and Research, to discuss the big announcements relating to regional growth in yesterday’s Budget, including the fiscal devolution roadmap.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Ian Taylor, Associate at the City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-Redi), and Philip McCann, Sir Terry Leahy Chair of Urban and Regional Economics at Alliance Manchester Business School. They discuss their paper 'Lessons learnt from the differing investment strategies and enabling contexts of UK city deals' and the implications surrounding current policy.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Maurice Lange, Senior Analyst to discuss the different approaches to housing that came out of Labour and Conservative Party Conference as well as diving into the actions that need to be taken by national, local and mayoral government to maximise council housebuilding.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Laura Shoaf, former Chief Executive of West Midlands Combined Authority, former Managing Director of Transport for West Midlands, and currently a non-executive director at DfT and board member for TfL. They discuss the evolution of the devolution agenda since the start of Laura's career and what's needed for further progress.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Jess Tulasiewicz, Head of Public Affairs and Policy, and Director of Policy and Research Anthony Breach to recap Labour Party Conference 2026. They discuss our ‘In Conversation’ sessions with the mayors, implications from the leader’s speech and the atmosphere inside the secure zone.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, is joined by Mike Emmerich, Founding Director of Metro Dynamics and former Chief Executive of New Economy Manchester, to discuss his forthcoming book, The Knowledge Broker: Sir Howard Bernstein's Manchester and Lessons for National Renewal, due out in March 2027. They also discuss his independent devolution review, Bringing Dynamism into Place, which examines the institutional capability, leadership and partnerships needed to turn devolution into sustainable economic growth across the UK.  

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Director of Policy and Research Anthony Breach to discuss good growth in every postcode, overnight visitor levies, corporation tax and why it should be part of the fiscal devolution debate and the roadmap that we'll see at the October budget.

Chief Executive Andrew Carter is joined by Jess Tulasiewicz, Head of Public Affairs and Policy, and Director of Policy and Research Anthony Breach to recap the many announcements that have come since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister in July. They discuss the significant shift of politicians to Number 10 North, devolution progress, tackling the NEETs challenge and what we expect will be coming next this autumn.