Swimming against a Southern tide

Perhaps seeking to take advantage of the new devolutionary agenda a new movement for the North has recently sprung up, the Hannah MitchellFoundation. 

The call, from a group of Labour MPs, is for the North to be granted greater devolved powers to counter what they say has been years of recession while the South has sailed merrily along.

But we have been down this route before. Plans for a regional assembly in the North East were defeated in a referendum. The Northern Way has come and gone. The Regional Development Agencies are in their dying days. It would seem the regional agenda has moved on and off the political agenda.

The current Government are more interested in local economies. What drives them, how do we create more jobs, what is it that will stimulate the private sector?  Those with an interest in the future prosperity of the North might be better served to push at this more open door rather than resurrect previous models.  They will also need to demonstrate private sector backing for reform, and, as we have seen with Local Enterprise Partnerships, getting business involved is often the hardest part.

Businesses need to be persuaded that it is in their short and long term interests to devote time and resources to strategic issues that spread out far beyond their immediate responsibilities. Ultimately this may come down to cash investment. No doubt business support for a Mayor in Liverpool has been greatly boosted by the promised investment of more than £100m in the local economy.  But it seems unlikely that the private sector is going to be convinced that another wide ranging regional body is the answer.  With LEPS already set up across the north, perhaps the pragmatic approach is to encourage these bodies to work more closely together on the big ticket strategic issues of relevance to the north as a whole, rather than create a further tier of decision making. 

Whatever route they choose to pursue, one thing seems clear.  Governance structures come and go, but the issues remain the same.  But it’s better to work with what you’ve got than try to redraw the map, which can be expensive and in many ways exasperating for the private sector.

Tony Cox 

tony@lnstockcommunications.com

@tonylinstock