The announcement by the government of the latest City Deals is an important and historic step on the long and winding road to devolving power to councils
Yesterday was a day to celebrate for devolution devotees across the country. Cities minister Greg Clark’s announcement that a further six ‘deals’ have been negotiated with England’s core cities marks a step change in the government’s policy for urban Britain. It is one of the most significant steps made towards devolving power to local government we have seen in decades.
Along with Manchester and Liverpool, who have already agreed their deals, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield have finalised their negotiations with government. The deals involve devolution of various powers over finance, skills, infrastructure and business support in return for a commitment from cities to deliver jobs and apprenticeships. But the detail varies for each City Deal – which is as it should be.
Centre for Cities has been calling for this kind of devolution of powers to the local level for many years. Cities understand their local economies. They know the needs of their residents and businesses far better than national government. Greater freedom and funding for cities to make their own decisions can support the economic growth the UK needs, and ultimately has the potential to improve the quality of life for the people living and working in those cities.
Yesterday was big step towards greater powers and funding, but there's still a long road to travel towards devolution. Which means it's good news that the government has agreed the Core Cities will be able to negotiate for further powers and freedoms as they prove that they can deliver their part of the deals.
But as the policy beds in there will be inevitable questions about measuring success. Are City Deals really going to empower cities to kick start local growth?
For this policy to succeed the core cities – the trailblazers – must demonstrate how much more effective and efficient delivery at local level can be. If they do not demonstrate a return for these additional powers and freedoms it will be enormously difficult for other cities to make the case to a still-reluctant-to-devolve Whitehall that they or other cities should take on more responsibilities.
Here at Centre for Cities we will continue to push hard for the second round of City Deals to be rolled out quickly. Our recent research suggests that the next deals should be negotiated with some of the small and fast growing cities (like Cambridge and Milton Keynes) and mid-sized cities (like Sunderland and Preston) that could benefit significantly from intervention.
Take Preston, for example, which struggles with a weak city centre. Preston saw strong private sector jobs growth of over 16% between 1998 and 2008 – but its city centre’s private sector jobs base declined by almost 3% over the same period. A targeted City Deal could make a big difference to places like Sunderland and Preston and one of the measures Centre for Cities would like to see in the next round is a £500m ‘mid-sized cities investment fund’ targeted at strengthening weak city centres to help attract more private sector investment.
Other measures will be more appropriate for small fast-growing cities but the focus above all should be on delivering the businesses and jobs that will kick start national growth.
City Deals are a welcome step towards devolution, but there is further to go to ensure that cities have the full suite of powers and freedoms they need to make the decisions for growth. We are looking forward to working with cities, Whitehall and politicians to support the progress of City Deals. It is an exciting time for urban policy and Centre for Cities will be making the most of this opportunity to fly the flag for cities.
Alexandra Jones is the chief executive of the Centre for Cities
