At first glance, the Government’s plan to devolve more powers to regional mayors and tidy up the messy multi-layered system of local authorities seems reasonable, with an intention to both give people more of a voice and encourage regional investment.
The fresh devolution measures, set to be unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on Monday seem even sensible when considering the billions of pounds that could be saved by efficiencies.
But, squint at the fine print, and the biggest devolutionary reforms in 50 years could sever the link between locals and their communities entirely. Decision-making on unpopular new housing developments and infuriating monthly bin collections could now be taken by officials working up to 70 miles away from those affected.
Rayner’s English Devolution White Paper could see dozens of councils abolished in favour of bigger unitary authorities, with populations of at least 500,000 people.
Kent, Surrey, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Hertfordshire are likely to be among the counties set for radical changes.
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Read MoreEngland has 21 county councils, responsible for social care and transport. The 164 district councils under them meanwhile oversee planning permission for development and bin collections.
Undoubtedly inefficient, ministers believe wider, unitary authorities can better direct increasingly scarce public funds, pointing to research published in 2020 which shows the changes could save the taxpayer almost £3bn over five years.
The re-organisation comes after years of financial mismanagement by local authorities and the belief that two-tier local government structures are inefficient. Multiple rows have seen district councils blamed for building up cash reserves rather than spending on improving public services. Meanwhile, district councils are also seen as blockers to growth by rejecting planning developments.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – correctly argues he has a mandate for change both on planning and devolution. And there is no doubt the UK needs clean energy, more homes and a greater voice for local people.
But his philosophy is going to come up against local interests when development decisions filter down and are decided at a regional – not local – level. Rather than giving people more of a voice, he could be depriving them of one.
Taken hand in hand with the Government’s housing planning targets announced by Rayner last week and Ed Miliband’s energy expansions announced on Friday, ministers are imposing a radical set of top-down targets for development.
Under the planning reforms, local authorities must set aside areas for development with no sight of what any future building could look like. Meanwhile, empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure could see swathes of pylons and on-shore wind farms.
“Rather than real devolution, we could end up with just local delegation, and that’s that is going to really undermine local councils,” Liberal Democrat local government spokesperson Vikki Slade told The i Paper. “It’s going to set councils against government, rather than being two halves of the same coin.”
Opposition MPs are also anxiously eyeing the plans after rumours the overhaul will be used as an excuse by the Labour Government to postpone May’s local elections. Slade said any delay “is a real concern”.
“Given that the Government doesn’t appear to be very popular at the moment, doing something that would deny people their rights to vote would be a really bad idea, even if they’re not on track for a great set of election rounds. So, I would be really upset if this was used as an excuse to deny people that right,” she added.
A government source said there were no plans to delay May’s local elections. Even so, opposition parties, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK currently riding high in the polls will spend Monday poring over the documents to make sure their electoral ambitions are not put on hold.
County council elections in May will be a big deal next year. They will be the first big test of Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s strategy as the party defends a high number of seats won in 2021. Then leader Boris Johnson saw a boost immediately after the roll-out of the Covid vaccine.
Already the Tories are eyeing how it can hold those seats, with some Conservative MPs seeing heavy losses to other opposition parties as a moment of danger for Badenoch, who has yet to score any major blows against Starmer.
On Monday, Rayner is likely to champion her approach to power-sharing alongside one of the country’s most successful mayors, Tracy Brabin. Her dual efforts in persuading the Government to fund her West Yorkshire region and globe-trotting to encourage private investment have made her one of the best advocates for devolution.
While Starmer and Rayner’s relationship with the regional mayors is undoubtedly positive at the moment, some of them have criticised what they describe as a Treasury orthodoxy, which sees Whitehall targets imposed on local areas.
Looking at the reforms from another angle, defenders of hyper-local democracy such as councillors will also be examining how tough Westminster will be in imposing their plans on local areas and the pace of reform.
Insiders are contrasting a tough statement made by devolution minister Jim McMahon in September that it’s “not acceptable” for an area to lack a mayor, against what has been seen as a gentler strategy of privately encouraging regional opt-ins. In short, they question will every area end up with a mayor eventually?
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Read MoreRegional mayors are seen as a big electoral prize, particularly for the rapidly growing Reform UK.
As well as fielding hundreds of county councillors, leader Nigel Farage wants to win the position of inaugural mayor of Greater Lincolnshire next year. Former Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns who defected to Reform, is battling local Tory councillor Rob Waltham for the job.
“It’s a two-horse race between us and the Tories there,” one Reform UK source told The i Paper, referring to the Lincolnshire battle.
The regional mayors already have a WhatsApp group of their own, although it’s rumoured the Labour mayors have their own breakaway chat group. They’re increasingly becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Starmer and Rayner will argue they are giving local people a greater voice with the devolution plans. If regional mayors can champion their areas and stand up for local residents, that’s surely a good thing.
But by making the voices regional, the reforms risk severing the link voters have with their local areas. Local champions should examine if they really want to surrender that tie.
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