By David Williams
24 March 2010
City-regions should be placed at the centre of a new deal
between local and central government to reduce spending and devolve power, a March
23 study has said.
Delivering a localist
future: a route map for change, published by the 2020 Public Services
Trust, argued that restructuring central and local government could improve
services while reducing the fiscal deficit.
The study recommended identifying areas with innovative,
forward-thinking local agencies and a track record of strong collaborative work.
Each of these city-regions would be given a single pot of money, instead of
funding from various sources, to be spent across the agencies. The single pot would
be smaller than the previous total funds but the agencies would have more control
over how it is spent.
Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds were named as strong
contenders for such powers, along with innovative counties such as Kent and
Essex.
Launching the report in London, joint author Phil Swann said
the principle could not be applied to all localities, but the most able should be
given more power as soon as possible.
‘We know this will mean multi-speed localism, [and that]
more progress will be made more quickly in some areas than others, reflecting
local ambition and capacity. We’re unapologetic about that,’ he said.
Swann added that it was not realistic to expect such an
approach to work in every area. ‘The government is not capable of having an effective
relationship with every unitary and county council, and we have no confidence
that it will ever develop the capacity to do so,’ he said.
Former health secretary Stephen Dorrell, a commissioner at
the 2020 Public Services Trust, added that the method could be an ‘escape
route’ for local authorities and service providers facing harsh cuts. Decentralisation
could be a ‘light-touch alternative’ to centrally driven budget salami-slicing.
‘The priority is the deficit, the deficit, and the
deficit… that’s the main game and
it will be pretty unpleasant,’ he said.
‘We’re offering an escape route for councils.’
The findings were announced the day before today’s Budget,
which is expected to incorporate the findings of the 2009/10 Total Place pilot
schemes. These analysed all the public spending in a region with a view to
using it more effectively and identifying possible efficiencies.
