The government has been urged in a major new report on devolution to reform the process in place for local areas like Greater Manchester to access crucial Whitehall funding. The plea to Rishi Sunak and his cabinet came in a wide-ranging report on levelling up published by the Devolution All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
The report follows evidence considering the Government's Levelling Up White Paper of February this year and makes seven main recommendations.
It also calls for a review on the requirement to have a directly elected mayor to achieve 'the highest levels of devolution'. Instead, argues the report, the Government should 'lay out a clear framework that allows local areas to negotiate deals which fit within existing institutional structures, rather than reserving the most significant powers for areas which are content to follow the centrally preferred model'.
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And the report found that while full details are yet to emerge, it 'seems likely' the Office for Local Government 'runs the risk of creating a tool for the centre to monitor local government', rather than support investment.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority was the first combined authority, formed under devolution in 2011, with many other regional devolution deals agreed since. The report said it 'remains the policy of the renewed Government' to continue negotiating with other regions. The inquiry was held as a result to 'gain an understanding of how devolution has been delivered in practice so far'.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, gave evidence, together with academics from the University of Manchester, and councillor Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council, sat on the inquiry panel.
Th report highlights repeated criticisms of central Government that the 'model' of devolution it has chosen to adopt 'places undue emphasis on local areas prising individual powers out of departments, rather than Whitehall actively seeking to pursue an integrated programme of ambitious place-based leadership'.
The point, argue the authors, is borne out in the allocation of growth funding, with the reports saying: "Central government funding of local authorities is highly fragmented."
It quoted research which showed almost 250 grants were provided to local government in 2017/18, with half worth £10m or less. And only 18 per cent of grants issued between 2015/16 and 2018/19 were intended to be spent across more than one area, added the report. "Around a third of the grants identified in this research were awarded on a competitive basis," it went on.
The research estimated that the average cost to a council in pursuing a competitive grant was around £30,000.
"On this basis, it would cost each local authority roughly £2.25 million a year chasing down various pots of money distributed from the centre," said the report. "The recent experience of the Community Renewal and Levelling Up Funds has also highlighted the difficulty of aligning national policy objectives with the demands of delivery on the ground: the funds were subject to delay and awarded according to complex bidding criteria.
"This increases the difficulty of long-term planning and effective use of public money as relatively small pots of cash are bid for on tight delivery timescales. It also means that councils seeking to address major transformation programmes, like reaching net zero, have to stitch together pots of cash from across Government, navigating departmental silos and eligibility criteria."
The report also argues that while detail was still to emerge, 'it also seems likely that the commitment to establish the Office for Local Government also runs the risk of creating a tool for the centre to monitor local government rather than a system to support coherent investment in place'.
The Government, in the report, were also urged to help more areas devolve 'as much power as possible to local communities'. Health was referenced heavily, with one recommendation calling for the Government to align the rollout of integrated care systems and health devolution in future local government devolution deals to narrow the 'gap' between health expectancies in different areas with different incomes.
"The Government should ensure that future devolution deals place public health at the centre, recognising the multiple factors that decide health outcomes and providing adequate funding both to public health provision and to address all factors that lead to health inequalities and low healthy life expectancy," the report said.
Mayor Mr Burnham told the inquiry: "I think the UK economy needs a strong sense of forward direction in all its constituent parts and in all the regions. Giving more devolved control now can deliver that stronger sense of momentum and forward direction. It can put the pace into the twin drives of levelling up and net zero.
"I think you can't do these things from the top-down. It will only happen when you enable and empower people to do things from the bottom up."
APPGs are informal groups of members from both the House of Commons and Lords, but the report isn't an official publication from either House. Andrew Lewer MP, chair of the Devolution APPG, said in a foreword to the report: "The appetite for new devolution deals is very clear, and we know from our evidence that where they are right, they can be transformative. The Government must, however, listen more to local communities about what they want and what works for them.
"It is clear that for levelling up to truly succeed it must be locally led and draw on the deep well of skills and experience in our existing local government structures."
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