The English Devolution White Paper, published at the start of last week, heralds the most radical changes to local government, and the structure of government in England, for at least fifty years. ‘At least’ because in many respects these proposals are more profound and wide-ranging than those of 1972-74, which were the foundation of our current system. Much of the last week has been caught up in work to understand, report on and respond to the White Paper - so there’s been little time to write.
I did, however, have to report on Devolution to our County Council meeting last Thursday, and so set out some of my thoughts (see our media release). In brief, this is a massive change, full of challenges and risks, and one that will be driven by national government’s wishes rather than ours. There are also some big opportunities in this, and Kent and Medway - the historic county - is well-placed to respond to them.
In brief, the White Paper makes clear that the expected model of governance across England will be one of Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs), bringing together a directly elected Mayor with a number of councils making up a Combined Authority. This model is already in operation in many parts of the country, such as Greater Manchester (with Andy Burnham as Mayor) and the West Midlands (where my friend Andy Street served as Mayor 2017-24). The government expects this to be universal across England by the end of this Parliament.
This much was already indicated as early as in the letter that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner sent to upper tier (County and Unitary) Council Leaders in July, shortly after the government was formed. It was made still clearer at the Local Government Association conference in October, where the Minister of State for local government, Jim McMahon, made clear that mayoral authorities would be the essential building block of the system and that there would be ‘no orphan areas’. And, of course, there are many similarities with proposals launched (and mayoral authorities created) under the last government, when Michael Gove was the Secretary of State.
What is new, however - and came up on the rails in the closing weeks before the launch of the White Paper - is the emphasis on local government reorganisation (LGR). In our case, that means the replacement of the two-tier (county and district council) system with one of a number of unitary councils. This too is a programme that government is determined to press forward, and is closely linked to the development of MSAs. Under the scenario of Kent and Medway being an MSA, and reorganisation accompanying it, none of today’s 14 councils - Kent County Council, Medway Council, the 12 Districts and Boroughs - would exist in their current form.
What are the possible benefits of all this? Some eighteen months ago, under the previous Conservative government, I made clear that I favoured a Mayoral solution and the form of MSA that was then on offer. The attraction of this, then and now, was that government is prepared to devolve a number of key strategic powers - across infrastructure, economic development, transport, environment, employment support and strategic planning - to MSAs.
Local government, especially in bodies such as County Councils, has lost much of its power in this area through national policy decisions and the intense financial pressures of recent years from adult social care, children’s social services and special educational needs. This offers a way back, and with powers coming to a body that would not be hamstrung by those spending pressures.
In addition, devolution would bring a single financial settlement from government for the MSA - in contrast to the mess of smaller, sometimes competitive funding pots which councillors of all parties decry - and national level representation through a new Council of Nations and Regions.
Ministers have also emphasised what in the previous Labour government was known as Total Place, and is now called Public Service Reform: bringing public services in an area closer together to deliver better services and more value for the Kent pound. Kent and Medway is well suited to benefit from this: not only are we an area of almost 2 million people with a strong historic identity and clearly defined geography, we have the same boundaries as major public services such as Police, Fire and Rescue and Health.
It was on this basis that Kent and Medway - with a much stronger effort than in many parts of the country to ensure that all our democratically elected councils were engaged in the process - put in a strong submission to the government’s call for Expressions of Interest in the autumn.
We now face a decision as to whether or not to be part of the Devolution Priority Programme, the group of areas that will move ahead rapidly to undertake these changes. I made clear in my report to the Council that, to my mind, there are many advantages to moving sooner rather than later, both to get the benefits of devolution (in terms of powers and funds) quickly, and to shape our own future. No decision has yet been made, however, but it will have to be by 10 January. The New Year will be off to a busy start.
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