March 11th Budget announced - with a majority and mandate will be very different one to that postponed in Autumn.
- changes to Green Book formula and process on investment spending
- new regional stats on economy
- change to Treasury objectives/structures bbc.com/news/business-…
- changes to Green Book formula and process on investment spending
- new regional stats on economy
- change to Treasury objectives/structures bbc.com/news/business-…
Green Book is Treasury process of evaluation of spend based until 2018 on econ grounds (unlike say EU funding on social grounds) and over 25 year return. directs funding to areas of existing high productivity/ property prices. Regional mayors & economists long argued for change.
to “level up” (by the way surely don’t mean levelling up eg transport spend across UK to London per capita levels (£1k), would double for NE, treble for NE/NW, quadruple for EM, regional leaders will push such claims hard) - need better & new stats on prices, trade, investment... 
In tangible terms - Chancellor announced Budget date at expansion of Manchester tram... during election, clear Tory message was that system would be extended to Bolton and Stockport - but money earmarked was a total of 800m a year for all city regions and only post 2022...
Lastly - chancellor will have best opportunity at beginning of a 5 year term to take tougher decisions, eg on climate change. Big signal in March Budget as to how far this Government is willing to go on this issue.
