Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Election of Mayor with Police and Crime Commissioner Functions) Order 2016

Baroness Williams of Trafford Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2016 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

That the draft order laid before the House on 1 February be approved.

Relevant document: 25th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, I shall speak also to the draft Tees Valley Combined Authority Order 2016, which was laid before this House on 11 February. We will also be considering today the amendments to the Motions in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Beecham. I would simply say for now that the various wider local-government funding matters that these amendments touch on are wholly separate from what these orders and the devolution deals are all about. These deals are about promoting economic growth and prosperity for the area, providing investment and giving local places the powers to decide what to invest in and where. That is quite different from how local services are funded.

If these orders are approved and made, they will deliver significant milestones in fulfilling our manifesto commitments to implement the historic devolution deal between the Government and Greater Manchester and to devolve far-reaching powers over economic development, transport and social care to places that choose to have elected mayors. We want a shift in power from central government to local government, with decentralisation bringing power closer to local communities. We are committed to devolving powers and budgets to Tees Valley, to Greater Manchester and to other areas. We are committed to this so that places can achieve their potential and take control of their own growth, and so they can play their part in rebalancing our economy, including building the northern powerhouse: a powerhouse which has massive potential to add an extra £37 billion to our national economy by the next decade.

If approved and made, the Tees Valley order will establish a combined authority with functions in relation to economic development, regeneration and transport across the Tees Valley. It provides for there to be rigorous scrutiny arrangements, with the chairman of any scrutiny committee required not to be a member of the majority political party. This puts on a statutory basis the close working which already exists between the five constituent authorities and their partners, including the Tees Valley Unlimited local enterprise partnership. This close working will enable the Tees Valley to work together even more efficiently and effectively to promote economic growth, to secure investment and to create jobs.

The order is laid under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, as amended by the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. As the statute requires, before laying the order, the Secretary of State has considered whether the proposal for a combined authority satisfies the statutory tests. I can confirm that they have been unambiguously met. The Secretary of State considers that establishing this combined authority is likely to improve the exercise of the statutory functions, and in reaching the decision to lay the draft order, he has had regard to the impact on local government and communities.

This order is the first step towards devolution in Tees Valley. Further orders will be laid later this year to create the position of mayor—to be elected in May 2017—and to confer on the combined authority and the mayor the additional responsibilities set out in the devolution deal, including powers for a mayoral development corporation.

I turn now to the order for Greater Manchester, where there has been a combined authority since 2011. This order takes further steps in the devolution journey by creating the position of a directly elected mayor for Greater Manchester, with the first election to be held in May 2017, and specifying that the first mayoral term will be for three years, with the next election in May 2020, with four-year terms subsequently.

The order also specifies that the Greater Manchester mayor will exercise the functions of a police and crime commissioner, cancels the May 2016 elections for a Greater Manchester police and crime commissioner and extends the current police and crime commissioner’s term of office until May 2017, when the mayor will be elected. To hold an election for a police and crime commissioner who would hold office for just one year would make no sense, either democratically or in terms of value for money.

Both orders are laid before Parliament following the statutory process specified in the 2009 Act, as amended. As required, all of the constituent councils have consented to these orders being made, and the Government have laid the draft order having considered the statutory requirements. As required, we are now seeking Parliament’s approval before making the orders.

The other place has approved each of these orders, and the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, has indicated publicly his support for devolution, for devolution agreements with Greater Manchester and the Tees Valley and, indeed, for the orders, which the regret Motions before the House in his name welcome.

I turn to the amendments. In essence, they focus on—regret—two matters. First, they assert that the devolution agreements were conditional on there being an elected mayor and that that is to be regretted, and that resources for these deals are inadequate. Secondly, they regret the Government’s policies on the broader issue of local government funding—that is, regret the measures that this Government have had to take to put right the economic chaos that the coalition faced, with a deficit of more than 10% of GDP.

As to mayors and the devolution agreements, there are simply two points which have been made on many occasions in this House. First, nobody has been required to have a mayor. Secondly, it would be irresponsible of any Government to put in place devolution of the scale and ambition as in Tees Valley and Greater Manchester without the clear, single point of accountability that an elected mayor can bring. As for resources for these deals, the devolution agreements provide funds for investment which the Government are absolutely committed to deliver. Devolution is an ongoing and iterative process, and we are committed to continue to discuss with places such as Tees Valley and Greater Manchester what else would help meet the needs of the place.

As for the funding of local government, when local authorities account for a quarter of public spending, they must carry their share of reducing the remaining deficit. To date, I must say that they have played their part in deficit reduction with great responsibility, so that public satisfaction with their services has been maintained or even improved.

The Government are clear that we have delivered a fair settlement to every part of the country, while giving councils greater financial independence so that they can deliver sensible savings while protecting front-line services.

The settlement, including the transitional grant, means that no council receives less than we announced in the provisional settlement. The settlement is broadly flat in cash terms between now and 2020. Resources are distributed fairly, taking into account the main resources available to councils. The gap in spending power between urban and rural authorities continues to reduce. We have given councils the multi-year budgets they have asked for and helped to transition from the old, centrally funded world to the new one of localised income. We have responded to their request for support for the elderly by providing £3.5 billion through the social care precept and the better care fund.

However, as I said, this is all a separate matter from what the orders are about. They are about delivering devolution, about giving local authorities the power to set their own policy agendas, the power to target their spending priorities to match, the power to drive growth, and power supported by investment funds, to which we are committed in the deals. I commend the orders to the House. They are a milestone on the devolution journey leading to greater prosperity, a more balanced economy, and economic success across the country. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Grocott (Lab)]

My Lords, I agree with pretty well everyone who has spoken, particularly my noble friend Lady Armstrong. Everyone was in favour of devolution and of decisions being made as locally as possible. I wish there was a bit more of that thinking in the Government as far as education is concerned, but I suppose there are inconsistencies in all government policies. I still feel a sense of foreboding about these orders and they are not entirely removed by my noble friend’s amendments, although I think it is infinitely desirable for the amendments to be carried.

The foreboding comes, at least in part, from the sense that we are developing in an almost ad-hoc way. I do not want to use the word “hotchpotch”, but it is the nearest thing to the truth. We will have different forms of local government in different parts of what is still, certainly geographically, quite a small and homogeneous country. We will soon reach the stage when a member of the public will need a doctorate in public administration to know what kind of system they live in, who does what, where and how, when to vote and all the rest. That will particularly be the case when people move around the country, as they do, of course, from one part to another. I do not think that it is the only principle governing constitutional change, but I think that intelligibility should be one of the principles.

We are in increasing danger, as these orders come through, of forgetting that principle and making a very complicated system of local and regional government public administration. I say that despite the fact— I am very conscious of the fact—that some people I admire enormously in local government, friends of mine, have been involved in the various negotiations and the conclusions that have been reached. It is something that should cause us concern. We should at least keep a watchful eye on how these things are developing.

I confess to a prejudice in all this, in that I think one should always be a little wary of Chancellors who say they are here to help. Chancellors of the Exchequer have a fair bit of power and a fair bit of money at their disposal. It is never quite an equal discussion when they come and negotiate with local leaders, who have tremendous knowledge of their area but nothing like the same capacity to implement decisions for their area that people in national government quite rightly have.

However, my main concern with these changes remains, as it was when we were taking the Bill through, about this business of directly elected mayors being compulsory. Let us not throw weasel words around any more. I do not like using language like that, but it is using weasel words to say that this is an optional addition to devolution agreements—that it is optional as to whether you have a mayor or not. It is not. It is quite clearly an absolute requirement for the Chancellor. It is something that should not just pass in an order without us at least registering our concerns, as others have.

I will not repeat things I said during the passage of the parent legislation, but I did not expect that on the leader page of the Daily Telegraph I would find an article by a Conservative writer with whom I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly. The headline in last Friday’s Daily Telegraph was: “Voters don’t want them, but the march of the mayors is now unstoppable”. It is not me saying this, though I find a great affinity with it. The article says that four years ago:

“George Osborne … asked 10 cities, in a referendum, if they’d like a directly-elected mayor. Nine said “no”. It was the wrong answer … It’s hard not to admire his audacity. Soon, all nine of the cities which rejected the offer of a mayor in a referendum will have one anyway”.

We know the history of this. It was introduced by a Labour Government, I acknowledge that, but then the impetus for an elected mayor had to come from below. Then the Conservative Government said, “Well, this isn’t moving fast enough, so we are going to force these 10 local authorities to consult the people”. They did consult the people and the people said, “No, thank you very much, we do not want one”. So what do the Government do? In the finest traditions of the European Union, I have to say, if you do not like the first result you have another go until the electorate come to their senses. That is essentially what has happened. Fraser Nelson goes on to say:

“Since 2001, there have been 50 mayoral referendums, of which just 15 agreed to mayors. Many have come to regret it”.

We know two, of course, where there has been a vote to get rid of it.

I know that it is whistling in the wind now to say this, but we are setting up a quasi-presidential system as a model across the country. This is not yet at a national level, thankfully—because I think that a parliamentary system is infinitely preferable—but that is what is going to happen. It will inevitably mean different systems in different parts of the country. We are still in the very unfortunate situation, as far as I can see, unless the Minister can correct me on this, where unlike in any quasi-presidential system anywhere in the world there is no limit on the number of terms a mayor can serve. That is a great fault in the system. Parliamentary systems get rid of leaders when they are not keen on them, but mayoral systems do not have that mechanism. I should have thought that eight years—two terms—should be a maximum, but that safeguard does not exist.

I have no sense of joy and exhilaration at a wonderful new experiment. I do not think that that was detected in any of the three Front-Bench speeches; I may be misinterpreting them. I hope that as this process continues—it now seems inexorable—care will be exercised to ensure that we do not develop a system of devolution across our relatively small country which no one without a double doctorate can understand.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate. I shall open my remarks by reflecting the words of the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, about the process of devolution being iterative and evolutionary over time. Those were very sensible words. I shall address some of the issues that were brought up that I did not address in my opening remarks.

Several points were made about referendums for different types of mayors being held under different processes. It is probably quite important to distinguish between the different provisions at different times. It is quite misleading to link referendums about whether there should be an elected mayor for a local authority area and the proposed combined authority mayors. The latter mayors are very different from local authority mayors—that is probably one reason Greater Manchester saw fit to have one. They have wholly different and novel roles and are closely interconnected with the devolution of new, wide-ranging powers for areas.

The noble Lord, Lord Beecham, asked how much agreement there was from other departments in doing these deals and implementing them. The departments concerned have all signed off the deals, which have been collectively agreed by Ministers. The implementation process is both local and across Whitehall, led by a director-general and a cross-Whitehall group involving all departments involved in the specific deals.

The noble Lord, Lord Shipley, asked about impact assessments. I hope it comforts him that when we confer functions on the combined authority to be exercised by the mayor, there will be, where appropriate, a regulatory impact assessment. This will be done in future orders that will be considered by this House.

The noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, talked about Durham moving north, which was interesting, and the identity in Teesside. The naming of the combined authority was a matter for the local area. The Government have recognised the historic boundaries but this combined authority is about strengthened, joined-up working and building on strong relationships across boundaries, recognising local identities.

The noble Lord, Lord Beecham, talked about the certainty of funding, particularly in relation to HS3. The Government have committed to HS3 and the Chancellor announced in last week’s Budget that £60 million will be available to bring forward HS3 between Leeds and Manchester, reducing journey times towards 30 minutes, which will increase the jobs market for people in both Leeds and Manchester and improve links between the north’s other major cities. The Government are absolutely committed to this.