Bath’s economy will be boosted by a new ‘city deal’ initiative announced this week by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, according to lobbying group Business West. But it says the plan does not go far enough and should include region-wide mayors.
The aims is to shift the power from Whitehall to core UK cities with the Unlocking Growth in Cities prospectus making it clear that the government favours directly-elected mayors. But it stops short of making devolution conditional on them. Bristol will hold a referendum on an elected mayor next May, although the government wants mayors to cover a single local authority – in this case just the Bristol City Council area – rather than metro mayors covering a city region such as the West of England, which takes in Bath.
Instead, ministers have decided that local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) will be given more powers to boost city economies. The West of England LEP includes the Bath and North East Somerset local authority area.
The report came a day after Business West launched its 2050 Vision for Bristol and the West which takes a 40-year view of ways of developing the area’s economy through a number of innovative projects.
Business West managing director Phil Smith welcomed the city deals initiative.
“For many years, business has said that too many decisions are made in Whitehall, and are often taken without real knowledge or understanding of local business conditions,” he said. “Those of us at the heart of our communities, such as local councils and companies, are best placed to make the decisions that will affect our local areas for years to come.
“Our chamber of commerce members and many local firms will welcome the 'city deals' announcement which will benefit our urban area. But business must be at the centre of any decision-making processes.
“Provided there is appropriate business input, and local control of transport and training, there is the potential to create a better environment for private-sector growth. I am also heartened by the fact that some of the proposed powers of this ‘city deal’ are reflective of at least two of the recommendations that Business West and the business community have called for in the Bristol 2050 forty year vision published yesterday.
“We will be watching closely to ensure that the 'city deals' complement, rather than detract, from the work being carried out by business and councils via local enterprise partnerships. This initiative must not simply be government rhetoric, but real actions that will help to boost growth in our regions.”
Proposed powers include:
- A single consolidated capital pot, bringing together multiple funding streams and allowing cities the freedom to direct and prioritise economic investment.
- A ‘cities bonus’ for local authorities that opt to pool business rates across their LEP to enable more effective economic decision-making and to manage fluctuations in their budgets. This links directly with the Bristol 2050’s recommendation 3, published only yesterday, calling on the government for the ability to collect and retain funds locally.
- Targeting a share of the extra £1bn boost to the regional growth fund, announced in the autumn statement, to “support innovative and ambitious economic programmes” in the core cities. Powers for cities to offer business rate discounts to local businesses, with the opportunity to match fund this through RGF bids
- Fast-track access to new infrastructure funding through Tax Increment Financing, where this is spent on economic development projects
- Allowing cities to take strategic transport decisions by devolving local transport major funding. This is reflected in Bristol 2050’s Recommendation 4 – calling on the government to support the setting up of a Strategic Transport Authority for Greater Bristol
- Increasing cities’ control over rail services, through devolving responsibility for commissioning local and/or regional rail services, including the management of franchise arrangements
- Greater control over local bus services, through devolution and wider reforms of the Bus Service Operators Grant
- Putting greater regeneration funding and responsibilities in the hands of cities, by devolving Housing and Communities Agency spending and functions
- Supporting the development of connected urban spaces through a £100m capital pot for broadband infrastructure projects
- Creating a City Skills Fund to enable cities and colleges to work together to tailor the provision of adult skills to the needs of employers in the city
- Better service integration with Jobcentre Plus, including the alignment of local resources to aid job growth;
- Improving integration between welfare to work programmes and other social services by allowing cities to expand existing DWP contracts (e.g. the Work Programme Contract) to include other wraparound services.
