City Hall Renaissance?

The Government’s Localism Bill is being amended in the Lords to allow England’s major cities to have more powers devolved to them to promote economic growth.

Appreciating the desperate need for economic growth on a day that it was announced unemployment has increased by 80,000 people to 2.51million over the last quarter, these changes offer the possibility something quite special and absolutely critical.

In the ‘heyday’ of local government town halls were the driving force for economic growth. It was Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham that where the powerhouses of entrepreneurial endeavour and these cities generated the economic boom of the industrial revolution. Look at their glorious town hall buildings to see the history of their power and grandeur built on the back of economic success.

The amendments proposed by peers would enable ministers to devolve powers to cities on a case-by-case basis, without the need for further legislation. It would open the door for cities to gain greater control over policy areas such as economic growth, housing & planning and regeneration.

Cities would also be free to cooperate and work together, pooling resources across functioning economic areas. How this will all work alongside LEP and Enterprise Zones is detail which will need working out.

The devolution deal was first proposed by the Core Cities Group, which represents England’s eight largest cities outside London – Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – which deliver 27 per cent of the national economy.

Could this be a rebirth of big city town hall local government, I guess the answer will depend largely on the quality of the leadership in these councils, one thing is certain though, if the devolution of these powers goes ahead we will see more local accountability which cannot be a bad thing, and it may result in a change to the makeup of the councils. This just might be the beginning of a City Hall Renaissance.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a Curtin&Co Consultant and former Leader of Basinstoke & Deane Borough Council. He is also a current councillor in Basingstoke's Norden ward, and Leader of the Basingstoke Labour Group