Abstract
In a stream of high-profile announcements, the UK central government has said that it wants to devolve power to sub-regions within England – to city regions and across the country. This article presents evidence to show that the actual intent of government policy is the reverse. Instead of promoting the creation of powerful, independent sub-regional authorities, answerable to the citizens who elected them, the government is seeking to impose a super-centralised model of decision-making in which locally elected politicians are required to comply with central directives. By drawing on work with city region leaders in England, the article develops criteria for assessing sub-regional governance. Inspirational examples of city region governance in other countries are presented. These examples show that the current super-centralisation of the English state is out of step with progressive policy making in other countries. Suggestions on how to develop real devolution in England are outlined.
Highlights
Public power in England is being restructured but not in the way Government ministers suggest
As the section explains, the secretive and rushed approach to detailed ‘devolution deals’ for specific city regions, one that involves ministers deciding on the minute details of particular devolution bids, makes the Blair Labour Government’s approach to local government of the 2000s appear pretty much hands off
As we have seen the devolution deals agreed to date appear to be more like contractual arrangements in which local leaders are expected to be accountable ‘upwards’ for the delivery of specific programmes and projects as set down by central government officials
Summary
Public power in England is being restructured but not in the way Government ministers suggest. It turns out that ‘lost in the complexities of Whitehall’ is a strikingly accurate description of the situation Clark created when he became a Secretary of State Those trying to design and develop arrangements for the new ‘combined authorities’, to be set up in May 2017, are required to engage in the preparation of Parliamentary Orders of mind-boggling detail and to negotiate mountains of case-specific detail with Whitehall civil servants. When he was Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in 2015-16, Clark introduced extraordinarily complicated arrangements for the detailed control of specific sub-regions in England. As the section explains, the secretive and rushed approach to detailed ‘devolution deals’ for specific city regions, one that involves ministers deciding on the minute details of particular devolution bids, makes the Blair Labour Government’s approach to local government of the 2000s appear pretty much hands off
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