draft Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Election of Mayor with police and crime commissioner functions) order 2016

Emma Lewell-Buck Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2016 General Committees

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Ryan, and to be having our first outings in our respective roles. I also thank the Minister for his kind words.

I do not intend to press for a Division, and I will keep my comments brief, but the Opposition have a number of concerns that we would like the Minister to address. Labour has always been a party of devolution. We strongly support the principles of devolution. Absorbing the police and crime commissioner role into the mayoral position certainly has merit when we consider the potential for joined-up services, such as mental health, where there is already close working between the police and local authorities.

While a combined directly elected Mayor and police and crime commissioner will have the opportunity to be more locally responsive and to make joined-up responses on vital areas of governance, it is of paramount importance that a role that commands such power is created through a thoroughly transparent and democratic process. Our greatest concern is that there is little evidence of that.

The significant and worrying lack of public consultation and engagement at all stages of the process, including with today’s order, is well recorded. The Centre for Public Scrutiny and the Communities and Local Government Committee have criticised the fact that far too many deals have been rushed and reached behind closed doors, without a proper assessment of how devolution will improve powers. Not to allow the people of Greater Manchester to assert their democratic right to be involved in a process that will radically change how their region is governed is troubling to say the least. In his response, will the Minister talk about the lack of public consultation?

The present Greater Manchester police and crime commissioner was appointed as an interim Mayor by the combined authority leaders. His tenure was extended to five years. Whatever his merits are, neither that appointment nor the extension were democratic decisions. Turnout in Greater Manchester for the election of the new police and crime commissioner in 2012 stood at just 14%. That shows that the public either did not want a police and crime commissioner or that they were not given enough information to be politically engaged. It is therefore even more important for the Government to ensure that the public are properly included in and informed about the plans we are debating. Will the Minister further explain the basis on which the electoral term was extended from four years to five?

Another concern is whether the public know that a Mayor who is also a police and crime commissioner may also appoint a deputy police and crime commissioner mayor who is separate from the deputy Mayor. That person can take on most of the Mayor’s PCC functions—a non-democratically-elected person selected by the Mayor alone can carry out most of those functions. That becomes more worrying when we consider that the Government intend to enable PCCs to take on responsibility for the fire and rescue services in their area. Can the Minister give us assurances that that will not be used as a smokescreen for further cuts to the fire service? I am curious to know how confident he is that police and crime commissioners will have the knowledge to take on responsibility for fire and rescue services. Can he explain how he envisages the Mayor and their self-appointed deputy being held properly to account?

This is a brand-new post, involving an individual being responsible for a huge brief with complex divisions of responsibility.

[Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the concerns of the residents of the combined authorities is that this is power without money following it? That was demonstrated in the settlement with the extra £300 million. Very little—almost none at all, in fact—went to the northern authorities and towns that needed it.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

My hon. Friend raises an important point that I have heard others mention. To exercise power, money is needed. If the Government are going to continue taking money away from local authorities, how can those authorities fully exercise their power?

Finally, the Minister needs to explain how he will take some responsibility for ensuring that the changes are communicated in a clear way to the public. Can he guarantee that we will not hear a repetition of the mantra that that is up to local areas and local areas alone? After all, he surely understands as the Minister in charge that he has a role and responsibility here. I do not wish to detain the Committee further, and I look forward to his response.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

I hear what the Minister is saying about discussions with local authority leaders, but does he understand that there is a lot of unrest out there? A lot of people are saying that they simply do not know what is happening. The message is not filtering through; it is not being communicated to the very communities that rely on these services, as borne out by a recent Select Committee report and many other reports. What will the Government do about that?

[James Wharton]

I understand the shadow Minister’s concern about the extent to which the changes that are taking place are broadly understood by the people in those communities that we hope will benefit. The truth is that, in line with the basic principles of devolution, we have allowed local areas and local authority leaders to consult as they see appropriate before approving devolution deals.

There has been extensive coverage in local media, with debates on both sides of these arguments. There have been many debates in this place, but I recognise that there is—indeed, there always is in democracy—more to be done to continue engaging, to continue explaining and to continue showing why what we are doing is important and why we believe that it will bring benefits.

In part, we are talking about the election of a Greater Manchester metro Mayor in May 2017, and, as we head towards the election, the debate will become more acutely obvious to residents living in Greater Manchester. The candidates, from whatever party and of whatever view, will want to set out their stalls for that election and explain the powers that the Mayor will have and what they want to do with those powers for the communities that they want to represent. That will be true not only in Greater Manchester but more broadly across those areas that have agreed such deals and that will have Mayors in the first tranche of devolution.

I always want to do more to spread the good word of the great works that the Government are doing. I would welcome the shadow Minister’s assistance, wherever possible, in doing that, but I have no doubt that this debate will not only continue but become louder, more obvious and more specific as we head towards the mayoral elections. It is for those reasons that I commend the draft order; I am pleased that the shadow Minister said she does not intend to divide the Committee.

Today marks a significant milestone along the path of delivering the agenda that we are pursuing. It will make a real difference to communities across the UK, particularly in the north of England, where we want to build and deliver on the northern powerhouse and unlock the huge economic potential that we know exists in the economies of the north, in the communities of the north and, most fundamentally, thanks to the people who live in the north of this great country.

Question put and agreed to.