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.
