A wake-up call over devolution
Yorkshire is being marginalised
IT IS slightly ironic that the National Audit Office should be rebuking newlyelected metro-mayors for exaggerating their powers when this is the one region that has not reached a consensus on devolution.
Six months after senior industrialists wrote an open letter in The Yorkshire Post calling for an end to the impasse, perhaps the time has come for such individuals to seize the initiatives themselves and put together a business-first framework.
After all, it was significant that the Government defended the £1bn offered to Northern Ireland in return for the Democratic Unionist Party’s support in key votes by outlining the amount of money being poured into city-regions. The exception? You’ve guessed it. Yorkshire.
Yet, while the NAO does make a number of valid points about the importance of elected councillors scrutinising the work of elected mayors, it is clear that this leadership model is here to stay and Yorkshire will be the biggest loser of all if this region prevaricates for much longer.
This was illustrated by Andy Burnham’s speech to the Local Government Association in which the new super-mayor for Greater Manchester challenged Brexit Secretary David Davis to form a new cabinet committee in which elected metro-mayors, and representatives from the regions, would attend monthly meetings and help shape the negotiations.
Indeed, it’s in the Government’s best interests, now that it longer enjoys a Commons majority, to be far more consultative and collaborative to ensure that the English regions are not marginalised by the wishes of the City of London and the devolved nations. Yet, if Mr Burnham’s initiative was implemented, there’s no guarantee that Yorkshire would be represented. If it was, who would be asked to represent this most diverse of counties and economies?
All the more reason for there to be a broader debate about the remit of metromayors here – and the opportunities that will exist if the concept is embraced. It might just help to break the political logjam.