Making mayors matter

COMMENT In many countries, a city’s mayor is the key decision-maker. They have the powers and resources to shape the local economy, decide where housing gets built, run emergency services and set local taxes. They matter. In England, however, mayoral power dwindled during the 20th century. In Victorian times cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds had powerful mayors, but over the decades Whitehall took more and more power and money to itself. The result was that by the 1990s England was one of the most centralised countries in the world, with Whitehall, not city halls, calling the shots.  However, in the past 10 years this centralised model has started to change. Powers and resources have been transferred, first to local enterprise partnerships and now to combined authorities and directly elected mayors. The process of devolution has been piecemeal, with different powers and resources being transferred over the past decade. This has inevitably limited what could be achieved. Despite this, there have been several encouraging outcomes.  Transport progress In the West Midlands, Andy Street has started to overhaul the region’s poor record for skills and training, to create a more qualified and productive workforce. In three years, the number of people without qualifications has fallen by a quarter, after decades of neglect. Several mayors have made real progress in improving their area’s transport provision, linking up public transport, making it easier for people get around their city and opening up areas for renewal. This is also helping to unlock neglected areas for development for workplaces and more homes.  The best mayors have taken a holistic approach to unlocking land, enabling its remediation and then working in partnership with the private sector to achieve real placemaking. They don’t always get it right, and some are clearly struggling, but the direction is encouraging. What should the real estate and development sector look out for as the Levelling-Up Bill and other government policies get rolled out? It’s a broad agenda, so I have selected three areas which EG readers might want to be aware of.  Shift in thinking First, we are going to see much greater financial freedom for mayors. Instead of ring-fenced money handed down from Whitehall, they will move to a single, five-year settlement. This should enable joined-up “place-based” investment and an end to the short-term year-to-year pattern of spending. This has real implications for those with patient capital wanting to invest. Second, mayors are likely to get greater local tax-raising powers, notably in relation to business rates. This will be presented as powers to encourage growth, so exactly how it will work is unclear, but landowners and developers need to be alert – and innovative – as to how business rates may be set in future.  Third, mayors will be increasingly important in terms of land assembly and regional spatial planning. They will be offered options as to which powers they wish to take up, including in planning, in compulsory purchase decisions and in deciding how public land is developed, or not. Depending on the local politics, the take up will vary, so be prepared.  Each of these issues matters. However there is one other area which government needs to address: civic leadership. This isn’t about a mayor’s politics – it’s about whether the office holder has the capability and leadership skills to deliver results. So often the difference between an area which is progressing and one which is not lies in the calibre of the civic leadership. This is partly about skills and experience, but it’s also about the training and support that individual has. I detect a shift in thinking about this. Michael Gove and his able deputy Neil O’Brien have highlighted this, and an excellent recent report from Onward, a well-connected right think tank, sets out a range of ideas to provide mayors with the training, coaching and supportive network they need to become effective local leaders.  It’s needed. When mayors Andy Burnham, Andy Street and Sadiq Khan were elected Michael Bloomberg invited them to the US to his School of Government. There is no equivalent here. That needs to change. Mark Prisk is a former housing minister. He is a strategic adviser to Handley House and chairs Saltaire Housing