Scott Mann MP: We need to spread opportunity evenly across the UK - and a fully digital economy is the answer

One of the most pressing issues facing the next generation is poor levels of social mobility. In this blog I want to highlight the challenges we face in boosting social mobility across the country and some potential solutions.

Over the previous decades, Governments of all parties, have tried to achieve the same objective, albeit in different ways. A productive, growing economy, that delivers prosperity for all corners of our country has been that goal.

While we now see record employment and enjoy the position as one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, the reality behind social mobility within our country remains rather dull.

Social mobility in the richest developed countries has stalled since the 1990s. The OECD found that in the most developed OECD nations, such as the United Kingdom, it could take at east five generations for a child from the poorest family to reach the average national income, currently £27,000 (for those in full-time employment), compared with two generations in Denmark, and three in Sweden.

Much of this was found to be down to income mobility. Income mobility to people born to low-educated parents has stagnated for those born after the mid-1970s, particularly when compared to many people born to low-educated parents between 1955 and 1975. This shows a real decrease in intergenerational social mobility by definition over time.

These figures bring to light the challenges we face collectively at a national level. But there is an even sadder story to tell about the divisions within our country, with a large geographic divide becoming ever more clear.

When it comes to social mobility, it is is very much a story of London and the rest of the UK.

London accounts for nearly two-thirds of all social mobility high-performing areas, or “hot spots,” across the country, according to the Government’s Social Mobility Index, which ranks areas across the country by four measures: early years, school, youth and adult.

While it is true that some areas in London might rank the highest for poverty density, with some of the highest unemployment rates in the UK, they often rank very highly for social mobility hotspots. This means that children born into poverty in London are more likely to rise out of poverty as they grow older, being more socially mobile than their parents before them, and are statistically more likely to benefit from social mobility than their non-London peers.

I write on this issue as the Member of Parliament for North Cornwall, where I was born and raised.

It’s an area as rich in British history as it is for its beautiful rural scenery and great Cornish people. But it just happens that this is a very rural area with certain pockets of deprivation. And if there is one thing I’ve learned in my life, including in my time as an MP and a Councillor before, it’s this -

Deprivation is bad, but rural deprivation is truly awful.

I was sorely disappointed to see that according to the Government’s Social Mobility Index, North Cornwall is in the bottom-fifth for social mobility in the United Kingdom. To put this into perspective, this means our local area is ranked 421st out of 533 areas for life prospects.

This is more than disappointing. This is unacceptable and must change.

If one thing is pertinently clear from the rankings of the Government’s Social Mobility Index, it is that there is a strong relationship between areas of higher rurality, and lower social mobility.

On the surface this makes sense. If you live in a rural area, there’s naturally fewer opportunities ‘per square metre’ as opposed to London, and trickier - if any - transport links to get to the nearest town or city.

But what doesn’t make so much sense, is why in 2019 we haven’t recalibrated the way our economy works in a way that is fit for the digital age.

There are two main ways to do this. Firstly, we must pressure the Government to build a digital infrastructure that is fit for the future. We need to have not only the world’s best broadband, but ensure everyone has access to the highest speeds, wherever they are. Secondly, we need to work with business to recalibrate what work looks like - with a fully digital economy, people can be just as efficient working at home, in a rural area - as they are in a city.

This is why I’m proud to be working with the Social Mobility Pledge, which was launched by entrepreneur, founder of the Harrison Centre for Social Mobility and True Potential, David Harrison, and former Education Secretary Justine Greening.

It’s a campaign which aims to bring together businesses to find the answers to the social mobility problem, and it’s done well with that so far - having had over 300 businesses and over 2.5 million employees sign up.

This is the scale of change we need to level up social mobility in every corner and throughout the UK.

It is clear that if we’re going to make the most of our country and make Brexit a success, then we have to make sure every person and place is fulfilling its potential and is connected to opportunities.

This means ensuring that social mobility and opportunity isn’t predetermined by where someone is born or where someone grows up and reshaping our economy and the digital infrastructure behind it to make it fit for the future.