North East Mayor Kim McGuinness 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 Kim McGuinness, 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.”