What do Mayors want?
Gill Morris asks if it’s time for the Government’s Industrial Strategy to tick all the boxes -
The BIG announcements made by Rachael and Heidi over the past few weeks have huge potential to deliver a seismic change in UK productivity but will the modern industrial strategy, Spending Review and £725bn infrastructure investment tick all the Mayors’ ‘to do’ boxes? We know our Metro Mayors, core cities and key towns can go further and faster to deliver growth and together they have the power to drive investment in much needed infrastructure, industry and innovation.
Over the past 40 years the UK has been one of the lowest investors of the OECD countries and well below other G7 economies. This impacts not just on productivity, but our crumbling infrastructure and future workforce, making us feel poorer as a nation.
We need to invest. Ask any driver and they will lament about the potholes on our roads. Ask any commuter or passenger outside London and they will bend your ear about the delayed and cancelled trains and lack of transport.
One in three homes in the UK were built before the end of the second world war and need urgent retrofitting and we need 1.5 million+ homes to be built. Combined with the squeeze on public services and talk of cash strapped local councils it is not surprising that people feel left behind and turned off mainstream politics. They are not feeling change or money in their pockets!
That is why, the not insignificant, £725 billion infrastructure announcement and more detailed plans in the long awaited 10 year industrial strategy, are too important to pass by.
The modern Industrial Strategy targets eight key sectors including clean energy, tech, financial services, and manufacturing which have the potential to deliver growth. Its longer term focus on the strategic planning needed to make our infrastructure fit for purpose is welcome. Maybe now we have a clear strategic direction for future policy and on value for money there will be greater business confidence? Hopefully we are a better position to see the infrastructure and skills needed for future growth to be realised.
BUT has the Government ticked all the Mayors’ boxes on their “TO DO” list? I think there is much more work to be done here. If the Government is to make a success of this massive industrial scale infrastructure opportunity, it is our Metro Mayors who need the powers and freedoms to drive forward their place based regeneration and inclusive growth generation plans. They must be recognised as the agents of the Government’s promised change. Investment in a skilled labour market and future jobs, better transport connections and decent homes and places to live are common endeavours for Metro Mayors. The UK’s over-centralised state and mission control by HMT must not stifle the BIG investment needed in devolved places which feel disconnected and left behind. The forthcoming Devolution Bill is probably the biggest reform in how we are governed we will see in our lifetime so the Government - and voters - need to be more alive to what our Mayors can and cannot do - and what they are responsible for. Equally, there is a real opportunity for HMT to let go of the tight purse strings and let Mayors go further to shape and invest in their region’s future. Let’s have a serious conversation about local taxation; how Mayors can raise revenue and fiscal devolution. . There is a radical opportunity for HMT and MHCLG to re-think or re-imagine local taxes - council tax, business rates or the potential for a Tourism Tax to raise billions, for example. Putting power and money in Mayoral pockets could be a gamechanger for the Chancellor.
Is it now time for the Government to look seriously at ‘Fiscal Devolution’ and also unlock potential opportunities for local taxation and revenue raising? This is the box the Mayors most want to be ticked. Metro Mayors surely need the economic powers to match their economic leadership? BUT with great power - and money - comes great responsibility. This begs the question who is actually responsible - and accountable - for the bevvy of Metro Mayors and their actions? Whilst Mayors have the potential to deliver great things and real change that doesn’t mean things can’t go wrong. It surely cannot be sustainable in the long term for Metro Mayors to be solely accountable to a Secretary of State? For the Government’s transformational Devolution Bill to succeed it must give some thought for how it plans to tick the accountability box - something which is currently missing from the list.
This will be at the heart of our discussions at our next Soiree and Devo North Network Live Podcast on
The A Factor
The power of devolution, who holds mayors to account?
3.00 - 5.00 WEDNESDAY, 30TH JULY 2025
LOOM ROOM, TOOTAL BUILDINGS, 56 OXFORD STREET, MANCHESTER M1 6EU
Email hello@devoagency.co.uk to be added to the invite list