A SILICON Valley style research and jobs scheme is to be launched in Glasgow.

As part of the UK Government’s  so-called Levelling Up agenda, three areas across the country have been selected to become ‘Innovation accelerators’, with the aim of producing highly-skilled jobs.

Projects in Glasgow, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands will be able to bid for a share of £100m as part of the scheme.

The announcement comes ahead of today’s launch of the delayed white paper into Levelling Up.

Michael Gove is set to appeal directly to Nicola Sturgeon to ask for her help in the UK Government’s drive to create a more equal playing field in all four nations of the UK.

He will also ask the same of the leaders of Wales and Northern Ireland, citing the coronavirus vaccine rollout as inspiration for the appeal to work together.

Mr Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said: “The United Kingdom is an unparalleled success story with one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic economies.

“But not everyone shares equally in the UK’s success. Great cities like Glasgow, Belfast, Swansea and Manchester, and proud towns from Aberystwyth to Armagh, to Bangor and Yeovil, have huge potential but contain inequalities which hold too many back.  

“Our ambitious plan to unite and level up the whole UK seeks to end that historic injustice and call time on the postcode lottery.

“We will only succeed if all layers of government – UK, devolved, and local – work together.”

“We have seen through the success of the vaccine roll-out what we can achieve when we pull together. United, there is no challenge we cannot meet.”

Along with the jobs-boosting scheme, the UK Government will announce 12 “missions” to create greater opportunities for everyone living outside London and the South East of England. 

Among them will be closing the gap between the UK’s highest and lowest performing cities, improving the  attainment and narrowing the life expectancy gap between different areas of the country.

The UK Government said that in areas where policy is devolved,  they will “seek to work collaboratively with the devolved governments to deliver for the people we jointly serve.”

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack  welcomed the announcement, and added: “I urge the Scottish Government and local partners to work closely with us improving lives across Scotland.”

He said: “ Initiatives such as the Glasgow City-Region becoming an Innovation Accelerator, unlocking access to a share of £100 million of new funding, will help Scotland continue its vital role in keeping the UK at the forefront of global science and research.”

He said the investment would see Glasgow  “become a major innovation cluster delivering high end jobs.”

However, a critical report published today by the National Audit Office (NAO) stated that the Government’s levelling up department ignored guidance on how to ensure its policies are working, before committing £11 billion to the scheme. 

Officials and ministers have “wasted opportunities” to learn lessons from past investments, and relies on EU-funded research for many of its assessments, the NAO said. 

Despite committing £11 billion to try to regenerate towns and communities, the Government has “limited understanding” of what has worked well.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has “wasted opportunities to learn lessons,” and relies on others to do its research.

“It does not know whether previous policies achieved their aims,” the auditors said today.

“Instead, it has built its evidence base for what works in local growth by drawing largely on external sources such as academic studies and evaluations conducted on place-based funding from the European Union.”

The report also shows that at the blessing of the Treasury, the department has cut corners in developing a proper plan for the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund.

Instead of going through the normal three-stage process to design a business case for the fund, the department produced a report that did not properly explore the alternatives.

The Treasury said that it had taken this decision because its officials had already been heavily involved in how the proposals were developed. They also built on funds that had already been in place before.

“While there may have been good reasons to move quickly, bypassing the earlier stages of a business case review limits the amount of scrutiny and independent challenge,” the NAO said.