A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Most of us are familiar with “the Government” sometimes referred to as ‘central government’ in Westminster. They set the vast majority of the laws passed by parliament, and are responsible for exercising the authority of “the crown” across the country; that is to say, they are in charge of everything. That’s the top of authority in the UK, Local Government, (or Local Authorities) are the lower levels of authority.
Local Authorities (typically councils) have responsibility for local services, such as bins, education, libraries and roads, with some decision-making power such as how to spend money for the civic (community) good or licensing for bars & gambling. It can be quite complicated, because the tiers of local government varies around the country, each with their own sizes, names, powers and responsibilities.
A good example of this is out in Colwick to the east of the city, where there is a Colwick “Parish” Council – employing a litter picker, reviewing planning applications and managing the community centre and activities – Gedling district “Borough” Council – responsible for bins, planning applications, housing and council tax – and Nottinghamshire “County” Council – schools, roads, libraries and public transport. Just over the council “boundary”, however, in Nottingham, we have just one “Unitary” authority responsible for all the above.
That all sounds complicated (there’s a simple explanation on Nottinghamshire County Council’s website) but the gist is that there are multiple types of local authority across the country, with Nottingham and Derby each having only one tier (or level), and their surrounding counties Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire both having two/three-tiers.
Devolution is slightly different, as it is where some of Central Government’s ‘powers’ are given to another, regional body to exercise a degree of authority of a smaller area i.e. the Scottish Government. It typically involves the creation of a new body and a representative responsible for it. In the last few years they have been making some devolved ‘authorities’ for regions in England, each as a separately negotiated ‘deal’ between the local council and the government. The newest of which is the “East Midlands Mayoral Combined County Authority” with the four councils of Derby, Nottingham, and the two shires…
EAST MIDLANDS COMBINED COUNTY AUTHORITY
What is it?
The East Midlands Devolution Deal is a proposal for a new “mayoral combined county authority” over the cities and counties of Nottingham, Derby, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire. This won’t replace any of the existing city, county, district or borough councils (also known as local authorities) in the area or take any of their functions (except for transport) away but will be given new powers and new money for long term investment and collaboration across the region.
What will this look like?
It will be an organisation headed up with a directly elected mayor but will not have any other new elected positions; Instead, the mayor will work closely with the existing city and county councils to develop a joint plan to develop the area across the two counties and cities. This will take place both in conversation and in committee style meetings with two (or so) representatives of each council. Although the mayor will have their own budget, most decisions won’t be made without the agreement of all four councils.
Looking at Manchester and the West Midlands which represent similar population sizes (although in a different structure) I would expect it to employ 1-2000 staff.
What will it do?
The four main priorities are:
- Housing – creating more, more affordable good quality & sustainable housing,
- Skills – increasing opportunities for education, skills training & graduate retention,
- Transport – improving infrastructure & integration across all modes of transport,
- Net zero – investing in future electricity, heating, transport & waste management.
It will also have a role in economic development, and many other objectives the ‘constituent councils’ see as better tackled across the region rather than in one local authority. This might involve coordinating joint approaches across councils or organisations in the area or commissioning (and/ or funding) new projects.
Where will the money come from?
The current proposals do have the power to introduce additional business rates and council tax levy in addition to the funding from government, although they currently claim a council tax “precept” (as it would be called) is not planned.
The main bulk of the funding (and incentive for the deal) is the promised £1.14 billion from central government (£38 million a year), as well as control over the adult education budget (for low-income and unemployed people to gain GCSE to A/T Level equivalent qualifications).
Don’t we already have the D2N2 partnership?
For those who haven’t heard of it, D2 (Derbyshire, Derby) N2 (Nottinghamshire, Nottingham) is the “Local Enterprise Partnership” (LEP), which looks at opportunities for strategic investment in the area and bids for money from national pots. It has little funding of its own and does not have any other decision-making powers.
The LEP its business-focused objectives and associated relationships would be integrated into the EMCCA, although they may continue to operate outside.
Will this be good for students?
Greater Manchester is perhaps the most public of the existing mayors, and it has reportedly been a good point of contact for students’ unions in Manchester, who and have formed their own (slightly different but similar) SU partnership across the area covered by the devolved authority. The mayor and their priorities will dominate the work of the EMCCA, but it will also provide opportunities to further our students’ aims.
Is it likely to happen?
There have been two changes in Prime Minister since the government originally announced these types of devolution, and it would require a change in legislation in order to implement devolution over two cities and counties. The responsible minister – although it has changed twice since the deal was signed – is now Michael Gove who was one of the original architects of this type of devolution.
All four of the local councils are in favour of it, largely because it is seen as a source of funding to help target some of the more difficult problems faced by the four areas and (hopefully) engage in some larger scale planning and projects. Participation in the proposal is one of the reasons why the government chose not to take over Nottingham City Council earlier this year and even those with reservations about the plans in other areas see it as the only way to get more money.
When will this happen?
This consultation closes across the four local authorities in January, with the council(s) likely to discuss and confirm their response in March 2023.
The “Levelling up and Regeneration Bill” was meant to complete the first half of it’s journey on 24th November, however, due to an argument about housebuilding the vote was delayed, and we do not yet know when it will be brought back.
If everything proceeds as planned, they aim to create the new authority in May 2024, with the first Mayoral election likely to happen that same month.