I am that rare and exotic species: a northern Tory. When George Osborne announced his ambition to build a Northern Powerhouse I cheered him on – finally, after years of neglect from successive southern-facing Governments, here was a Chancellor pledging to invest in the North of England. Read more
Today’s guest DevoIntelligence blog comes from Dr Peter Kenway, director and co-founder of independent think tank New Policy Institute which focuses on local government finance, taxes and poverty.
Devolution cannot escape its context. If it had followed on the heels of the 2007 Lyons Inquiry, devolution would have been taking place at a time when the share of UK economic resources deployed by local government was approaching a post-1945 high. Read more
This week the powerful Communities and Local Government Select Committee published its findings Devolution: the next five years and beyond after hearing evidence from a range of key devolution players including the interim Manchester mayor Tony Lloyd, Liverpool’s mighty mayor Joe Anderson, London’s Sir Eddie Lister, and Devo Minister James Wharton. What was the Committee’s verdict on the success of the Government’s devolution plans?
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Things are starting to get lively on the Devo front! A rash of star studded conferences and events are now on the fixture list and we have already seen one major Devo deal being struck in 2016: a deal which will see Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire work together under one elected Mayor for the North Midlands (not East Midlands!). Read more
devointelligence is our new weekly bulletin designed to keep you informed and aware of what’s happening in the Northern Powerhouse and beyond: who’s who and what’s what. It’s the time to switch on to the devolution revolution and get informed about the changing face of UK politics. Read the full devointelligence update online here. Read more
The face of UK politics is changing dramatically. In 18 months’ time there will be at least five elected Northern Mayors representing 54% of the population of the north.
With the announcement of an elected Mayor for Sheffield City Region, the second piece of the northern powerhouse jigsaw has been placed by Chancellor Osborne. After months of wrangling that led the Prime Minister to joke that councils in Yorkshire couldn’t get their act together, the Sheffield City Region brings together Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham with Sheffield itself, in a partnership that will take control of significant powers and funding for transport, housing, planning and skills. Read more
UK politics is changing. Further devolution is in George Osborne’s back pocket following a flurry of submissions to the Treasury by last Friday’s deadline. We will now see some clever manoeuvres and deals struck before announcements in the Chancellor’s Spending Review on 25 November. He will get his wish to go beyond Devo-Manc and make huge strides towards not only the creation of the Northern Powerhouse, but also to devolve powers to many county areas and city regions outside the North.
The manifesto of the All Party Parliamentary Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Group – Devolution for Prosperity – was launched in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday. Connect has been proud to provide the secretariat to the group for over two years, and we’re delighted to have supported the group to produce and launch the manifesto.
The Scottish Referendum changed politics across the UK for good. UKIP’s successes were further proof of the rejection of “establishment politics.” English politics must now be different and devolution has now returned to the Parliamentary agenda. Read more
