Viewpoint: City-regions: where next?

Abstract

The United Kingdom is one of the most centralised countries in the developed world, and its cities and towns lack financial power. Over the past decade, decentralised government has been realised in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but in England, with the notable exception of London, devolution is still unfinished business. Too many decisions affecting localities are still taken by Whitehall. This excessive centralisation is holding back the UK's towns and cities. In addition, there is an unhealthy proliferation of quangos, agencies and partnerships few of which are directly accountable to local people. As a result, the role of elected local government has diminished over the last few decades. So too has the public's engagement in decisions that affect their daily lives on transport, skills, housing and planning. This Viewpoint sets out a future direction for the devolution of powers and funding from the centre to cities and towns, with a strong emphasis on city-regions and economic development. It includes fresh ideas on regional and sub-regional governance, and a call for business to work more constructively with local councils. There are two major reasons why England needs more radical devolution. First, England currently suffers from an uneven pattern of economic performance between and within its regions. This performance gap was confirmed by last year's State of the English Cities report (Parkinson et al., 2006), with cities in the south and east performing on average 30 per cent better than those in the north and west. Despite a great deal of investment and reform, these regional disparities are likely to persist long into the future.