The government has announced plans for a “devolution revolution” in England that will enable regional mayors to “drive economic growth” and “unleash power from Whitehall back into local communities that know their areas best”.
The English Devolution White Paper, published yesterday (16 December), will put English regions at the heart of Labour’s broader ‘Plan for Change’.
Mayors will be given more powers around strategic planning, housing, transport and skills, with the government highlighting their centrality to its overall missions of boosting economic growth, enhancing infrastructure and building 1.5 million new homes.
“Devolution is about delivering fundamental change at every level,” said deputy prime minister and housing, communities and local government secretary Angela Rayner.
“It’s about giving local leaders the tools – and the trust – they need to forge their areas’ futures.”
SMEs, trade and exports
Within the whitepaper is a call for mayors and local authorities to form a “strategic partnership” with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) that focuses on exports and investment.
This will include engagement between DBT and the Mayoral Strategic Authorities to “shape” the Small Business Strategy.
“This will include consideration of how national, local, and devolved business support schemes – spanning domestic growth, exports, and investment – can best align to increase business growth and productivity,” it says.
The paper acknowledges the soft power that mayors have when it comes to delivering trade opportunities, citing the role of the West Yorkshire mayor, Tracy Brabin, in generating jobs and investment for her region on a recent trade mission to North America.
Mayoral-led partnerships
It further highlights the potential for mayors to work together in partnership to promote trade and investment in wider regions, including the ‘Great North’ partnership of northern mayors.
“The government will support mayoral-led partnerships, such as the ‘Great North’ partnership of Northern mayors, to convene regional public and private sector partners to promote a region internationally, develop investable propositions in key sectors and align trade, investment, major infrastructure and land use issues,” it says.
Empowering regions
Paul Brooks, the head of nations and regions at the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, said that he looks forward to working with both Regional Mayoral Authorities and DBT to shape the support that’s provided to businesses within the regions.
“We know that there are businesses, in all parts of the UK, with goods and services that are ripe for international trade,” he said, citing recent reports from the Chartered Institute and the E-Commerce Trade Commission on ‘services exports potential’ and the opportunity for UK businesses to trade more online.
“Empowering local authorities to provide localised support is a positive step towards helping businesses to fulfil their export potential.
“We look forward to feeding through our members’ views to local and central governments on what support is needed and how it can be most effectively delivered across English regions and the wider UK.”
Ongoing engagement
Brooks highlighted that members can continue to engage with the Chartered Institute on regional trade support through the charity’s series of regional events and online forums.
The Chartered Institute has also met with various mayors in recent years, including both Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham and Teesside’s Ben Houchen. Brabin is also due to speak at the Institute’s MemberCon event in Leeds next year.
‘Mini Whitehalls’
The wide-ranging paper also includes plans to re-organise local authorities, with some district councils being abolished and replaced with so-called “mega councils”, according to the Independent.
Hannah Dalton, a councillor and vice-chair of the District Councils’ Network, raised concerns that these plans could result in “the opposite of devolution”. She told the Guardian:
“We’re concerned that any creation of mega-councils will prove the opposite of devolution, taking powers away from local communities, depriving tens of millions of people of genuinely localised decision-making and representation.”
“Reforms in this white paper will have a significant impact on every council and community,” the Local Government Association has written in response to the plans.
“While our members are – and always have been – open to change, we remain clear that local government reorganisation should be a matter for councils and local areas to decide.”