Call to speed up devolved funding powers

Devolved funding and powers must be accelerated to allow core cities to develop and avoid failure, according to some of the UK’s most influential regional leaders. Metro mayors and senior development officers speaking at ‘How do the Core Cities Develop their People and Industrial Strategy’, at MIPIM UK, called for greater flexibility and freedom from Westminster. “People working in isolation and that sort of core mentality has to stop, otherwise we are setting ourselves up for failure,” said Steve Rotheram, metro mayor of Liverpool City Region. “The government needs to provide the areas with funding, but also the trust to shape our destinies.” He added: “We want the tools and the levels to deliver for our people in our areas.” In 2017, six metro mayors were elected to lead combined authorities in regions across England. These cross-party leaders have varying powers and functions defined in individual devolution agreements. Combined authorities cover just 20% of the population, many devolution deals have stalled and leaders say government controls are holding them back from providing the education and skills they need for growth in their communities. Regional challenges “One of the growth sectors in our industrial strategy is construction,” said Deborah Cadman, chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority. The West Midlands Combined Authority has committed to building 215,000 new homes in the region, and it aims to do this using modern construction methods and modular building. “With 5G and the growth of digital that gives us a massive opportunity to create different communities built in different ways… We need people with the right skills to do that,” Cadman said. West Midlands is using its adult education budget to reskill workers trained in traditional construction techniques. It is a step forwards, says Cadman, but the pace of change is too slow and government controls could prevent her region from embracing large-scale developments connected to HS2. “We want the freedom to work with Homes England in a different way, to create a growth corridor to bring in skills, jobs, housing, to run alongside that infrastructure route. I’m anxious that because of the constraints placed around us we won’t be able to realise the full potential.” Rotheram says city regions struggle with government dictated targets such as the 300,000 homes a year goal. He says they need the “tools and strategic direction to skill up a workforce to deliver that, or deliver the capacity for the modern methods of construction”. He said: “The hope is that through devolution and through areas like ourselves, instead of the government deciding that, we’ll do that ourselves more locally and that’s why the relationship with Homes England is so pivotal if we are going to hit some of those targets.” Releasing control Tom Walker, deputy chief executive of Homes England, believes cities should set their agenda through their local industrial strategies and says partnership must be made between the organisations and the UK’s major cities to take advantage of infrastructure investments such as HS2. “Arrangements are different, city by city,” he said. Walker says real growth rests on “serious strategic delivery plans” that central government can mobilise. These plans rely on alliances between different agencies, local partners and the private sector, he said, and they create an “irrefutable case for investment”. “Our role is supportive and facilitative,” he said. “We run a huge investment bank operation and there are some things that are best done nationally.” Leeds does not have a combined authority devolution deal and Eve Roodhouse, chief officer of economic development at Leeds City Council, says the region is waiting for a government response to the One Yorkshire plan that would unite 20 councils in the region. The agreement asks for firm commitment from government around key infrastructure projects including hospitals and better funding for rail projects. “One of the main things we are pushing for is much greater control over skills and education,” she said. “The most centralised democracy in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the most unbalanced economy in Europe are intrinsically linked. The way to really readdress the imbalance is to give more power to local areas that can do things much more innovatively and quickly than a central bureaucracy,” said Rotheram.   The panel Deborah Cadman, chief executive, West Midlands Combined Authority Eve Roodhouse, chief officer of economic development, Leeds City Council Steve Rotheram, metro mayor of Liverpool City Region Tom Walker, deputy chief executive, Homes England   To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette