Dull devo proposals slammed
Just
a handful of the 38 devolution proposals put forward from cities, towns and
counties across the UK two years ago actually reached top politicians, a former
Treasury minister has revealed.
Speaking at a
recent conference hosted by the Southern Policy Centre think-tank, former
commercial secretary to the Treasury, Lord O’Neill, admitted that ‘not many of
them actually got beyond officials to the attention of the ministers and close
advisers that were involved’.
Proposals were
submitted through the Department for Communities and Local Government but the
ex-minister suggested only a very small number actually reached his desk in the
Treasury.
Lord O’Neill
said one reason for this was ‘not that many had things that stood out that made
them look particularly interesting’.
He said: ‘A lot
of people would just come along and say: “Can you give us our GVA version of
money that you gave to Sheffield?” What, that’s it? What is it you really want
to do?’
Lord O’Neill
said he was ‘sympathetic’ to frustrations that the Government’s approach to
devolution was too focused on urban areas but defended the stance.
He continued:
‘If you want to make a difference nationally, by definition the places you have
got to give the biggest amount of early attention to are the urban ones, which
makes many people who are not in urban areas, say: “What about us?”
‘But, if you are
approaching this from trying to change the national economy, it is reality that
you must give primary attention to the urban areas.’
Lord O’Neill
also blamed politics for the failure of a number of regions to elect a mayor.
He added: ‘There
were at least two urban-based deals that didn’t happen, because of Conservative
Party politics. It would be dressed up for other reasons publicly, but that’s
why it didn’t happen.
‘The other big
place where we never got a deal – and it’s sort of ridiculous – is Leeds. It
gets dressed up in all sorts of crazy things, but it is because of the marginal
Tory, or what is perceived to be marginal Tory seats in West Yorkshire.’
Just thought it was worth giving this a wider
audience, what we have been saying in West Yorkshire for the past couple of
years.
