Title: The Regeneration Challenges Facing Barrow-in-Furness in the Wake of BAE’s Growth
Introduction:
Barrow-in-Furness, a town in the north of England, has long relied on its manufacturing base, which has been in steady decline. However, the town faces a different challenge now that its largest employer, BAE Systems, has a full order book for the next 30 years. The focus has shifted from attracting new orders to attracting and retaining a skilled workforce to support the company’s growth. Despite BAE’s presence, Barrow still grapples with social issues such as health inequalities and poor housing. To address these challenges and promote lasting regeneration, central and local government have formed a partnership called Team Barrow.
The Government’s Attention: A Promising Sign
Barrow has caught the attention of the government as part of its “levelling up” agenda, which aims to reduce regional economic inequalities. Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has visited Barrow, and Whitehall officials are collaborating with the local government to understand how the area can benefit from BAE’s growing order book. This demonstrates a momentous effort by the central government to invest in the town’s future. The government’s commitment to directing funds towards BAE and the region’s development is crucial in alleviating social problems and improving the overall quality of life in Barrow.
The Legacy of Job Losses and Social Inequalities
Despite BAE’s success, there is still a lag in translating this into local prosperity. Barrow is still dealing with the effects of job losses more than 20 years ago when BAE work ceased after the completion of the UK’s Vanguard submarines. The city currently struggles with severe health inequalities, poor housing, and an alarming level of deprivation. Barrow’s statistics reveal high levels of unemployment, low life expectancy, and increased suicide rates.
A Microcosm of a Wider Labor Shortage
Barrow faces a labor shortage, which is a microcosm of the wider challenges in the region. BAE competes with other companies, such as Rolls-Royce and Babcock International, for skilled workers across the UK. Rolls-Royce plans to double the size of its site following the Aukus nuclear submarine deal, highlighting the increased demand for workers. The government has acknowledged this need and has established a nuclear skills task force to train workers for civilian and military programs. However, the industry as a whole must ensure they do not simply compete for the same limited talent pool.
The Importance of Housing and Infrastructure
One critical factor hindering the growth of Barrow is its housing and infrastructure. Barrow primarily features terraces built over a century ago. This has resulted in many BAE workers resorting to renting during the week instead of permanently settling in the town. The council has faced challenges in unlocking a former industrial site for housing due to high decontamination costs. However, with the support of Homes England, the government’s housing delivery body, the hope is to launch the site and provide better housing options.
Maintaining Barrow’s Fortunes
Barrow’s long-term success hinges not only on BAE’s growth but also on its ability to address social issues and improve the overall quality of life. Collaboration between central and local government is vital in ensuring that existing funding is utilized effectively and that long-term commitments are made to fund interventions that combat health inequalities. The city and BAE must work together to create a favorable environment that attracts and retains a skilled workforce. The focus should be on developing the local talent pool through initiatives like apprenticeships and promoting the growth of related sectors to avoid labor shortages and foster sustainable regeneration.
Conclusion:
Barrow-in-Furness faces a unique challenge in harnessing the benefits of BAE Systems’ growth while addressing long-standing social issues. The government’s support and commitment to the region demonstrate an opportunity for lasting regeneration. By focusing on housing, infrastructure, and initiatives that promote skill development and job creation, Barrow has the potential to become a thriving and inclusive community. With the right strategies and investments, Barrow can overcome its historical challenges and pave the way for a prosperous future.
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For years, the main problem facing many towns in the north of England has been the steady decline of their manufacturing bases.
In Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, the conundrum is different. The port city’s largest employer and Britain’s main defense company, BAE Systemsit now has a full order book for the next 30 years, partly thanks to the UK’s Aukus nuclear submarine deal with the US and Australia.
Instead, the challenge for Barrow is to attract the new workers it needs and then keep them, and the wealth that comes with them, in the city. Indeed, despite the long-standing presence of BAE, which builds submarines for the Royal Navy, Barrow still suffers from severe health inequalities, poor housing and some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.
In a new bid for the area’s lasting regeneration, central and local government have formed Team Barrow, a partnership aimed at understanding how the BAE boom can boost the town’s fortunes.
In July, minister Michael Gove named Barrow as part of his “levelling up” agenda to reduce regional economic inequalities, promising to make it “a new powerhouse for the north”.
Cabinet secretary Simon Case has visited Barrow in recent weeks and Whitehall officials are now working outside the town hall to understand how the area can benefit from BAE’s growing order book.
Sam Plum, chief executive of Westmorland and Furness Council, which covers Barrow, said central government’s attention seemed “momentous”.
“The government is putting a lot of money into BAE,” he said, referring to the billions of pounds of UK defense contracts expected to flow to Barrow in the coming years. “If that money comes to Barrow and it doesn’t solve some of the social problems we have. . . then we have all failed.”
Barrow, a coastal community of 67,000 on the edge of the Lake District, has been a manufacturing town since the 19th century. BAE’s central riverside site dominates both the landscape and the economy, employing 12,000 people, pushing the city’s productivity levels well above regional and UK averages.
In the coming years the company will become even more dominant. BAE will build a new generation of attack submarines for the Royal Navy, with deliveries starting in the 2030s. The design of these boats will be used by Australia under the Aukus agreement.
By then, BAE plans to employ 17,000 people at Barrow, focused on the Aukus deal and a contract with the UK to supply Dreadnought submarines that will carry Britain’s nuclear deterrent from 2030.
However, although BAE contracts have been on the upswing for a decade, there is a lag in this success being passed on to local people. Barrow is still dealing with the legacy of job losses more than 20 years ago when BAE work stopped following the completion of the UK’s Vanguard submarines.
“When I look at what we have in front of us today, both for the city and for the company, it’s fantastic,” said Janet Garner, BAE’s future workforce director, who has worked at the company’s base in Barrow for 37 years old. “But we must not delude ourselves. . . the impact of that crisis hit the city hard.”
Referring to challenges around education and aspirations, he added: “I think it’s fair to say we have some third generation unemployment because of some of what’s happened. This is a real challenge.”
This is confirmed by Barrow’s statistics. According to the government’s index of multiple deprivation, the city is in the most deprived 10% of 309 local authorities in England. Its suicide rates were almost double the national average between 2018 and 2020, and the council said in a 2022 health inequalities review led by academic Sir Michael Marmot that it was “standard” for local people not expect to “live beyond fifty.”
Plum said that although “no new money” had arrived from central government in Barrow in the current spending climate, there was hope that a concerted focus within Whitehall could mean existing funding would be put to better use, in a less short-term way.
“We know that health inequalities are really high in Barrow,” he added. “And we know there are health interventions you can take to start turning the situation in a positive direction. But what we struggle with is a long-term commitment to funding such interventions.”
Barrow’s working-age population, meanwhile, is shrinking faster than the regional or national average, said Jo Lappin, chief executive of Cumbria’s business-led local business partnership.
He called the city a “microcosm” of a wider labor shortage in the region, just as BAE is competing for workers across the UK with the likes of Rolls-Royce and Babcock International, both of which are expanding their activity.
Rolls-Royce, which builds the nuclear reactors that power British submarines, in June announced plans to double the size of its Raynesway site in Derby following the Aukus deal. It will provide reactors for attack submarines.
In July the government announced a nuclear skills task force to help train the tens of thousands of workers needed in both civilian and military programs, while the industry as a whole was carrying out “strategic workforce planning,” he said John Howie, head of corporate affairs at Babcock, which maintains Britain’s nuclear submarines.
“The industry has to hire a lot just to stay put,” he said, adding: “We don’t want to steal workers from each other.”
BAE has made land available for a new Cumbrian university campus next to the Barrow site, partly aiming to recruit graduates for the company’s workforce. “Our strategy is ‘grow your own,’” Garner said, in part through its apprenticeship program.
He added that while around 82% of BAE employees live locally, “that number is decreasing every year” because the city cannot provide the “housing, education and transport” it would like.
Simon Fell, Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness and co-chair of the multi-party parliamentary group Aukus, said the town was in a “difficult environment to recruit in”.
“The real challenge for Barrow and Aukus is to change that and make this a place people want to stay and move to,” he added. “Now we have this national and international commitment to carry forward and the government is listening to us.”
Lappin says part of the answer lies in Barrow’s housing, which is dominated by terraces built more than a century ago, meaning BAE workers often rent for part of the week, but don’t necessarily move to the town permanently .
For two decades, the council has struggled to unlock a huge former industrial site in Barrow, opposite BAE, for housing, due to the high costs of decontaminating the land and the low sale value of the homes.
But the government’s housing delivery body, Homes England, is now working to launch the site and local leaders hope to fund Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement.
Plum said Barrow’s fortunes had always “risen and fallen” alongside those of BAE.
“If that money really doesn’t stay this time. . . and in the end we still have poverty and health inequalities, so it seems like the system has failed,” she added. “This is the phrase ‘Failure is not an option.’ We have to make things work.”
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