It was announced over the weekend that
George Osbourne has agreed to give three UK cities “London-style” rules, in the
sense that they will be given their own powers to run their own affairs. The
first city to undergo this change is Greater Manchester.
The move – agreed with Nick Clegg, the
Lib Dem leader - comes as all three main parties compete to offer English
regions more devolution at the same time as Scotland is given extra powers to
raise its own taxes in the wake of the independence referendum. We’ve got the
latest information for you in this blog post.
Details of the Devolution
The entire devolution has been estimated
to cost £1 billion, and a mayor of Greater Manchester will be elected, taking
over the duties of Police Commissioner. The package includes:
·
Control of the region’s £500m
skills budget
·
A £450m tram extension to
Trafford Park
·
£300m in house-building cash
·
Power to combine health and
social care funds together - and oversee back-to-work schemes
·
A pledge to make Manchester a
science capital
This would also mean a new ‘Oyster card’
for the region that would include the buses, he said – one that would work
‘better’ than London’s. Transport for Greater Manchester, however, are already
in the process of rolling out its 'get me there' smart ticketing system to the
region's trams, trains and buses. It’s
been argued that the devolution deal will create jobs, better transport and
more responsive policing.
What are the arguments for this deal?
1. The person is directly accountable to the public - so if they
mismanage the new power and money, the public can vote them out.
2. It lessens the impact of any huge fall out among the existing
council leaders, whose unity currently props up the system.
3. It provides Manchester with a representative on the world stage.
What are the arguments against this deal?
There are major fears among councillors
at a local level that this will drain power away from grassroots communities -
particularly over issues such as planning.
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