The March 2015 UK cities & regions report by Capital Economics has found that the economic recovery is not as evenly spread as the Budget asserts.

The firm reports: ‘While the Chancellor boasted that he was “getting the whole of Britain back to work with a truly national recovery”, the latest regional data continue to highlight significant regional variations in economic performance. February’s PMIs showed that London was again the fastest growing UK region. In addition, the pace of the recovery in the job market is much weaker in the smaller nations of the UK (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) than it is in England.

‘This partly reflects the impact of the government’s spending cuts, which have led to a bigger drop in public sector employment in Scotland and Wales than in England. With the fiscal squeeze only at the half-way mark and likely to remain focused on spending cuts, these regions are likely to continue to underperform over the coming years.

‘Output indicators show that London continues to outperform while Scotland struggles as a result of its dependency on the oil and gas sector. Meanwhile, the housing market appears to still have some momentum nationally, albeit with prices rises still much stronger in the south than elsewhere.’