northern power house

Northern Powerhouse ‘could end up like Big Society’

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There is still considerable cynicism about the Northern Powerhouse concept being a mirage. We have two stories in Hinterland this week. This one brings a questioning approach to the concept. The article suggests:

The Northern Powerhouse is “a concept yet to catch fire” that could go the same way as the “Big Society” scheme, a leading politics professor has said.

The claim was made after a BBC-commissioned survey found two-thirds of respondents either had not heard of, or knew nothing about the powerhouse.

The Northern Powerhouse policy attempts to redress the north/south divide and attract investment to the north.

Some businesses said the plan is already helping win export contracts.

Professor Jon Tonge, from Liverpool University, said: “It is a concept yet to catch fire. I wonder if it will head the same way as the Big Society. Who remembers that?

“The problem is it is only a concept. It is also offset by huge cuts to the councils in the north.

“Even those who have heard of it are cynical. Those who haven’t heard of it think at most it’s the idea of a concept – where is the clear plan?”

George Osborne unveils ‘revolutionary’ devolution deals for Liverpool and Birmingham in step closer to Northern Powerhouse

This second article on devolution showcases the signing of agreements with Liverpool and the West Midlands. At the national RSN conference there was much debate about what the requirement for a mayor meant for rural areas which are by nature more diverse and complex in their constituent parts. No answer has yet emerged and this policy continues to be largely “blind” in the context of rural places. The article tells us of Liverpool:

Voters will now chose a directly elected mayor in 2017 in exchange for powers over local transport and increased responsibility over employment support and skills.

The deal also includes support for Liverpool to attract major international events as well as backing for its cultural attractions.

Mr Osborne said: “Today is a historic day for the Liverpool city region and a historic day for the Northern Powerhouse.”

The deal puts Birmingham, Britain’s second city, and the wider West Midlands, in line to be governed by a metro-mayor. It is the first region to sign up for devolution outside of the Northern Powerhouse.

The West Midlands Combined Authority will be granted sweeping powers over transport and skills and will win Treasury backing for schemes including the Curzon Street Enterprise Zone.

Northern powerhouse: is the north really a winner in the 2015 budget?

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I fear smoke and mirrors in terms of the rhetoric about stoking up the economic development of the north and at best some more cash just for its cities. The author of this article has a similar view – she begins by telling us:

It has been almost nine months since George Osborne started talking regularly about the “northern powerhouse”, his vision for a prosperous new north of England, which will contribute to the nation’s coffers rather than draining them. I remember being quite scornful of it at the time and still think it sounds like a genre of music popular in the working men’s clubs of Lancashire on karaoke night.

On Wednesday the chancellor – and the MP for Tatton in Cheshire – devoted a good portion of his final budget of this parliament to promising stuff to fill the land of milk and honey that is his northern paradise, sorry, powerhouse. His fixation led some to ask whether the real winner of this budget was the “north”, wherever that may be (certainly not Cumbria, as I will explain below).