Whatever happened to giving more power to the people?
I can’t think of an advanced economy in the world, like ours, that doesn’t rely on devolved authority and directly elected mayors in charge. Lord Heseltine
FAILURE to give real powers to regions such as the West Midlands and Mayor Andy Street has left the country unfit to deal with the “serious crisis” of Brexit and Covid, Michael Heseltine has warned.
Lord Heseltine, a former Deputy Prime Minister, was the architect of the Government’s plan to create regional Combined Authorities and directly-elected mayors, which led to the election of the first ever West Midlands mayor in 2017.
But he said progress devolving power to the English regions had stalled – with people in power in London “clinging on to the past structure that suits their careers, their experience and their way of working.”
Lord Heseltine said: “I can’t think of an advanced economy in the world, like ours, that doesn’t rely on devolved authority and directly elected mayors in charge.
“I can’t think of a single country that doesn’t have that policy across the whole of its economic face.”
Michael Heseltine was one of the leading figures of British politics in the 1980s and 1990s, holding a range of Cabinet positions including Deputy Prime Minister.
He became an adviser to David Cameron’s government after the 2010 general election, and oversaw plans to devolve power to English regions through the creation of directly-elected mayors.
Different regions received different powers. For example, Greater Manchester took control of local health services, but this has not happened in the West Midlands.
Speaking to a Committee of MPs, Lord Heseltine said the there was “simply no will” to continue devolving powers from London.
He said: “We have a serious crisis facing the country – short term, Covid, long term, Brexit. We are administratively unsuited to cope with the huge challenge we face in the period ahead.”
The Government had planned last year to publish a White Paper explaining how it would hand more powers to mayors.
However, this has been delayed indefinitely, apparently as a result of the Covid crisis.
Lord Heseltine highlighted this, saying: “We need a Government that are determined to get the job done, and it is sad that, here we are, without a White Paper and no evidence of urgency in Whitehall.”
Central government had been concerned in the past about the poor quality of local leaders, said Lord Heseltine, but capable mayors had already emerged including West Midlands mayor Andy Street and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, both Conservatives, and Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester.
“My view is that if you create the structure and the position of leadership, quite rapidly – not overnight – democracy will produce the leaders to fit that role.
“Certainly, we have Ben Houchen, Andy Street and Andy Burnham – outstanding leaders, in my view, who have come up in the mayoral system.”
He called on the Government to appoint a Minister dedicated to overseeing the roll-out of devolved powers to English regions.
Lord Heseltine said: “London did not make this country.
“It was built to its preeminence in the days of the industrial revolution by the extraordinary divergence and ingenuity of the great cities of this country.
“Over the last 100 years, too much power has been centralised away from them in London.”
He praised for George Osborne, the Chancellor in David Cameron’s Government, saying “he was a Chancellor who was actually prepared to encourage devolution.”
While he didn’t directly criticise
Prime Minister Boris Johnson or the current Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, Lord Heseltine made it clear he didn’t think they took the same view. He said: “The only way you are going to change any of this, frankly, is a Government and a Prime Minister who have a majority and who want to get it done.
“You look back over the past 50 to 60 years and you can see that, without that central decision making, you do not get results.”
Lord Heseltine is a Conservative but currently sits in the House of Lords as an independent.
He was speaking to the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which is holding an inquiry into devolution.
The next election for the post of West Midlands Mayor is due to take place in May. It was meant to happen last year, but had to be delayed because of the Covid pandemic.
It’s unclear whether the vote, along with council elections, will be delayed a second time, but the Government has said it hopes to avoid this.
The current mayor, Conservative Andy Street, was first elected in 2017. He is standing again. Opponents include Birmingham MP Liam Byrne, the Labour candidate, and chartered accountant Jenny Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrat candidate. Solihull Council Opposition Leader Steve Caudwell has been selected as the candidate for the Green Party.
There is still no sign of the Government’s Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper, which was due to be published in September 2020.
The Government said in July that it hoped to create more regional mayors, including in rural areas which have largely been excluded from English devolution so far, although plans may have changed since the comments were made.
MP Simon Clarke was the local government minister in charge at the time.
He said: “This September, the government will be publishing the Devolution and Local Recovery
White Paper… which will lay a clear path for levelling up every region of our country.
“It will provide a roadmap for establishing a series of new mayors within the next ten years – representing the greatest decentralisation of power in our modern history.
“In our towns, cities, and rural counties, we will give local places the ability to come forward with new mayoral devolution deals which work for every community, allowing them to become masters of their own destiny.”