Let's get social
The case for investing in social infrastructure
14 October 2020
2 minute read
Conservative MP Danny Kruger has written an article for Times Red Box in which he highlights this work alongside his own report for the Prime Minister on the need for social infrastructure and community leadership at the heart of levelling up. The article also serves as foreword for CPP's series on social infrastructure and has been reproduced here with kind permission of Times Red Box.
Danny Kruger emphasises the importance of investments in civil society organisations supporting their community and peoples' sense of belonging as well as investments in public services like skills, childcare and public health.
His article builds on CPP's work which explored the case for investment in social infrastructure - including youth services, skills, childcare and public health - and touched on some principles for their delivery, through a series of blogs. The series breaks down what it means to invest in different types of social infrastructure and highlights the shovel ready projects that the government could invest in, now, to both lift us out of the current crisis and ensure that places are more prepared for shocks in the future.
CPP argues that the government should look beyond physical infrastructure as it seeks to stimulate demand in the economy. Investing in local services and the people that run them would provide valuable jobs and training opportunities whilst also improving social outcomes and reducing deprivation. In a recent paper, CPP found that the productivity returns to social infrastructure investment are comparable to that of physical infrastructure.
Danny Kruger’s article, along with the collection of blogs, can be downloaded below.