Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

I was in Westminster this week and senior sources close to Simon Clarke, the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, tell me he is committed to regional devolution – ‘it will happen.’  Devolution is seen by the government as a central pillar of its “levelling up” agenda, targeting economic growth, social inclusion and community engagement in the territories north of Watford Gap.

The theory is that elected Mayors, given new powers to form ‘development corporations’ specific to their region, supported by a single tier of regional unitary authorities of scale, will be much more agile and responsive to the economic and social needs of their local population than national politicians will ever be.  Almost total relaxation of existing planning rules look set to become a centrepiece of these new arrangements, opening the way for mixed use town centres.  The policy white paper outlining these plans in detail will land within the next week or two.

This is to be celebrated and offers the tantalising prospect of a £2 billion plus funding settlement for the region if, and it is a big if, our local leaders at borough and county council level can set aside their differences and agree on a devolution blueprint.  At the moment, this seems like a distant prospect, with the leaders of North Yorkshire County and Harrogate Borough Council engaged in a public relations ‘air war’ over their respective devolution plans.  NYCC leader Councillor Carl Les wants to lead a single large unitary council to include Harrogate and its districts (population 600,000 plus), while HBC leader Councillor Cooper proposes 2 smaller unitary authorities, with Harrogate leading 6 other local districts in one of them (population 400,000 plus).

In a press release on Tuesday, Councillor Les set out his pitch for unitary status: Clear accountability for service provision, millions of pounds of savings for the taxpayer by removing service duplication, the empowerment of town and parish councils and the creation of meaningful community networks.

In response, in a letter to local businesses this week, Councillor Cooper laid out his opposition to such a plan.  He contends that the devolved authority would create a ‘massive’ and remote bureaucracy; that employers would have less contact and influence on decisions affecting their future and that North Yorkshire risks spending its time in conflict with its government neighbour the City of York.  Let’s consider each of these contentions in turn.

First, some argue that although tiny, Harrogate itself is a remote bureaucracy.  And, as North Yorkshire pointed out in a press release on Tuesday, size isn’t everything.  Indeed, Labour-led Durham, which became a unitary authority 12 years ago, is consistently ranked among the best councils in the land.  This notwithstanding that it serves a population of well over half a million.  Setting aside the fact that Durham and North Yorkshire are neighbours and share a great many characteristics, if this is what a “mega” council delivers, then yes please, I’d like some of that.

Second, I’d like to hear why a smaller catchment for a devolved authority would be better for business and better for residents?  What is the substance behind the argument that cosy and intimate delivers more effective and cost-efficient government?  I challenge HBC to set out how its actions to date, demonstrate its responsiveness to local business and make it fit to sit atop a unitary authority.  What matters, surely, is vision, imaginative policies that give life to the vision, and local politicians with the competence and courage to behave properly and get things done.

Third, rejecting a course of action because of the possible risk of bad blood and behaviour between politicians  (for that is what it would be) must surely be wrong.  It’s up to us, the electorate, to expect and demand more from our elected representatives.

For my part I am fully persuaded (for now) of the merits of a single, devolved North Yorkshire unitary authority on the grounds that the North Yorkshire County Council bid has a positive and expansive vision for what it might do for residents and community.  This, rather than a myopic ‘not invented here’ perspective, that, absent a vibrant and fleshed out alternative vision for devolution, seems designed only to maintain a self-interested grip on the levers of power.

And time is running short for Harrogate Borough Council and its supporters to lay out a positive alternative vision for a smaller unitary authority.  If it is able to come up with a plan that places people and their wellbeing demonstrably at the heart of its thinking, invigorates business, fundamentally reimagines how services are delivered and reimagines our town centre, then I’m all ears.

Finally, in last week’s column I criticised Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Council, for following the Conservative lead in warning her team that they would be suspended, were they to be identified as the culprit who leaked the council’s confidential report into the dire financial state of Harrogate Convention Centre and the £46 million plans for its renovation.

I want to make clear that my criticism of her action was and is from first principles: the report should never have been marked confidential; neither the council nor the convention centre are private businesses, they are in fact funded with taxpayer money.  As such, reports into their performance should be made public, by definition, in my opinion.  The report was marked confidential to hide the dreadful financial performance it revealed.  Councillor Marsh should be calling this poor performance out, even if, as I accept, she felt her actions were constrained by the National Code of Conduct for councillors in respect of the leak.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

 

Read More: 

• Yorkshire councils battle for support over differing visions for devolution


• Five reasons why we should care about devolution