Working together beats fighting

To get the best out of City Deals Holyrood and Westminster need to start co-operating

There is no rule in contemporary politics that says the UK and Scottish Governments should be perpetually at loggerheads but the disappointing reality is that each currently sees the other as an opponent, and often to a tiresome degree.

It was hardly surprising that the election of an SNP administration, with its avowed independence mission, at Holyrood in 2007 created new tensions between both governments. Where, previously, the Labour-led coalition in Edinburgh and the Labour government at Westminster had enjoyed a co-operative, if sometimes tense, relationship, now there was a new dividing line – the constitution.

In the modern SNP lexicon, Westminster stands for all that is wrong.

The reality is, of course, that the UK and Scottish governments are perfectly free to cease hostilities whenever they choose.

When it comes to the issue of City Deals, we’re very much in favour of a ceasefire.

City Deals were introduced in England in 2011 to encourage local economic growth and move power from central government to the regions. Four similar schemes have been approved by the Scottish Government, north of the Border.

But MSPS have raised concerns about the City Region Deals set up in Scotland, saying “significant issues” must be addressed. Members of Holyrood’s Local Government and Communities Committee say there is “scepticism about what is being promised”, particularly regarding forecasts of new jobs.

Members of the committee warn there is a danger that the “often confused and cluttered policy landscape at local government, Scottish and UK levels runs the risk of reducing the impact that can be achieved from the deals”. There are, they add, “too many overlapping and competing initiatives and a mismatch between the objectives of local government and of the two governments”.

We hope both the Scottish Government and the Secretary of State for Scotland both pay close attention to those words.

If both the UK and Scottish governments want City Deals to spread prosperity, they should be working together to ensure that the best interests of all parts of the country enjoy the maximum benefit.

A good economic strategy shouldn’t end at the border. It’s time for the UK and Scottish governments to talk about what they might achieve together.