City deals: the time has come in England for ‘radical devolution’
It seems those who only think “urban” have learnt nothing over the last few years, notwithstanding the death of the idea of devolution in England. Instead of acknowledging the importance of interconnected rural and urban places, this article persists in the notion of some sort of modern version of a Holy Roman Empire of City States.
I got lost trying to find a hotel near the airport in Manchester this morning and found myself wondering what warped brownfield logic had created the legacy of featureless urban sprawl I ended up driving through. Much food for thought therefore in considering the content of this article which tells us:
Our challenge is a national system — and a machinery and culture built around it — that is centralising in nature and tends toward seeing all places in the same way, instead of providing the tools to deliver different things in different places, according to local need. City deals are the latest in a line of attempts to solve this, and while very much welcomed, are still a partial fix.
Scotland and Wales have greater devolution than English cities, and the time has now come for the much vaunted radical devolution. The concept underlying city deals is the right one – bespoke packages that provide differential devolution – but needs to follow through on the good work it has begun.
Growth deals are around the corner, and government has challenged us to come forward with even more radical plans. As Core Cities Group we will rise to this, but we will also challenge government to go further, not just on growth policy, but also on public sector reforms, without which the services that underpin growth and local quality of life will not be sustainable, and cities will be diminished as a result.
So although the share price of devolution is on the rise, we still need to ensure that City deals are not a blip, but rather the beginning of a growing will to deliver financial independence to England’s great cities