North East Mayor this evening urged
Government to accelerate devolution to the UK's Mayors to make
sure local policy is relevant to people's lives.
Giving the prestigious 2025 Sir Peter Hall Annual Lecture at
University College London (UCL), Mayor McGuinness said there was
an urgent need to transfer decision making which had a real
impact on people's lives to the regions, so that it becomes
relevant to the social and economic issues different parts of the
UK face.
She singled out three key policies where this could have the most
impact:
- The devolution of post-16 skills budgets to mayoral strategic
authorities and the streamlining of skills and employment funding
to reduce Whitehall bureaucracy and speed up local
delivery.
- The reform of Homes England to respond to the differing needs
of mayoral strategic authorities, allowing mayors to make housing
plans that meet regional needs such as incentivising social house
building by reforming right to buy.
- Fiscal devolution to allow regional mayors to introduce a
tourist tax to re-invest in training people to work in the
visitor and creative economy.
Speaking as she marked her first year in office, North East
England's first elected mayor pointed to early examples of
delivery which are already having an impact.
These include the creation of the country's first Child Poverty
Reduction Unit and the launch of locally-funded Childcare Grants
to bridge gaps in existing provision for parents returning to
work or training.
She said mayoral strategic authorities needed powers beyond the
existing focus of devolution in transport and economic
investment, so that local elected politicians could go further
with policies to meet local needs.
North East Mayor , said: “Devolution is a
process that works best when it has a direct input into people's
lives and needs.
“Mayors and regions are best placed to develop and deliver more
joined-up skills pathways tailored to the specific needs of our
key sectors, as defined by local business.
“We are also far better placed than Whitehall to innovate
when it comes to addressing rising levels of young people outside
work and education - so-called NEETS - and preventing their loss
from the system at a critical age.
“That means a new approach to government in the corridors of
power. Or, to put it bluntly - we need civil servants in
Whitehall to stop making decisions about who can be trusted to
deliver, based on the sound of someone's accent.”
She said that the North East Combined Authority, which she heads,
is a year away from an integrated settlement with Government
giving it limited freedom to move funds between local priorities
but this did not go far enough.
Instead, she said regions needed to be able to focus on growth
and investment beyond national economic targets to reflect the
ambitions of local people, calling for Government to support her
plans for a national centre of excellence for hospitality.
Calling for an end to ‘top down economic targets' Mayor McGuiness
added: “Devolution has to empower mayors to empower people.
Nearly half our local population work in the foundational economy
whose identity is deeply rooted in place.
“I want to ensure they can elect a mayor empowered to deliver for
their needs as well so that any young person who starts out
serving tourists can see a path to running that business
themselves.
“This won't be at the centre of Government delivery plans but it
is the sort of investment that makes the difference between a job
that just about pays the bills or a job that actually gives you
money to enjoy your own region.”
