Now the six regional metro mayors have been elected they must deliver devolution. Sam Clayden reports
As the dust settles after some hard-fought mayoral campaigns in six regions across the country, the victors have begun to retrain their sights on the challenge ahead.
National attention will largely be focused on developments in Greater Manchester, a region that is a decade ahead in terms of devolution.
And the region’s new figurehead is no newcomer. A health secretary under Gordon Brown and a Labour leadership contender against Jeremy Corbyn in 2015, Andy Burnham has since managed to carve himself out as a ‘non-Westminster/Westminster politician’.
In an interview with The MJ after taking office, Mayor Burnham suggested a high profile was needed in order for devolution to be successful. ‘Some might be cynical about me coming from Westminster to take on this role, but devolution needs a national voice,’ he said. ‘It is no secret the Government is currently lukewarm about devolution. If people are not well known, they can be easily ignored and that is not going to help further devolution.’
Following Local Government Association chairman Lord Porter’s call for the new municipal leaders to become members of the group, Mayor Burnham expressed an interest and said he wanted to ‘be a part of the local government family’.
However, he has previously ruffled feathers in the sector by suggesting the ‘only answer’ to problems facing adult social care is to bring care services into the NHS. In 2010 he unveiled a national care service white paper. With health a major part of Greater Manchester’s devolution package, Mayor Burnham looks set to use the region as a testing ground for his vision.
Asked whether he still believed a national care service was the answer, he said: ‘I have been of the view that we cannot continue to run health and social care in silos. We have brought the two closer together but they are still effectively in silos. We need one service for the whole person and I very much intend to drive it in that direction.’
He said the biggest barrier was the different funding models in each sector, with a means-tested social care sitting alongside an NHS that is free at the point of use, adding: ‘It will be difficult to truly integrate with the NHS unless we fundamentally reform social care.’
However, Mayor Burnham acknowledged that, ‘in structural terms,’ his vision could not be delivered over night.
He called for a drastic reform of the way money works in both the NHS and social care. ‘You could argue the NHS has an incentive for councils cutting social care because this is how it gets paid.’
Greater Manchester is already leagues ahead of other parts of the country in terms of health and social care integration, but Mayor Burnham said it had to go ‘further and deeper in the next decade’.
With cash problems plaguing the public sector, Mayor Burnham said he was not being ‘naïve or idealistic’. He continued: ‘Given the funding outlook for the NHS and social care, we need to keep our head above the water when in other places, perhaps, the water is going over their heads.’
‘The financial outlook is the single biggest challenge in delivering. It is quite clear all political parties should consider raising tax to increase funding for the NHS and social care, but a longer-term, broader solution is needed for social care.’
Having struck a succession of deals with the Government, each time securing more autonomy, the question remains: what is next for Greater Manchester?
First on Mayor Burnham’s list was education, but interestingly he is targeting the ‘full devolution’ of the Department for Work and Pensions budget for Greater Manchester.
The latter, he said, would allow the region to ‘truly take a whole person approach’ to reforming public services and to ‘build truly personalised solutions for people’
Finally, he said he would like financial freedoms, including permissive borrowing powers and the devolution of the full collection of existing taxes.
There is little doubt the new mayors will carry some lobbying clout in Whitehall, but it remains unclear to what extent they will work together.
‘I certainly want to work in collaboration with other mayors,’ said Mayor Burnham. ‘I have spoken to Sadiq Khan and there is a lot of potential there between a Labour-run London and a Labour-run Greater Manchester.’
Vowing to put football allegiances aside, Mayor Burnham, a passionate Everton FC fan, said he was keen to work with the Liverpool City Region’s Labour mayor Steve Rotheram, a Liverpool FC supporter.
When pressed about working with Andy Street and Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayors elected in the West Midlands and Tees Valley, Mr Burnham was less forthright.
He said: ‘My first priority is Greater Manchester. I am not going to be a party political mayor in that sense. People of all political persuasions voted for me. Greater Manchester comes first, but when it comes down to it, the second priority will be the North West.
‘I will work with the West Midlands where necessary, where we have a common cause, but will be competitive and will not hesitate to put our interests first.’
He said he wanted to build the case for West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, saying the sooner they struck deals the stronger the North of England will be.
‘The only way we can help to make that happen is by Greater Manchester making a success of what we have got,’ he said.
On collaboration with central government, Mayor Burnham said he would ‘take a pragmatic approach,’ with whichever government is elected, adding he would ‘congratulate them if they do the right thing by Greater Manchester’.
As he assumed his new role, Mayor Burnham appointed Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese as his deputy, as well as other local figures to his team, in a move he suggested was a testament to the ‘incredible foundations’ that had been laid by the region’s leaders.
He said: ‘I am seeking a blend of continuity and change. In these testing times we need the best team on the pitch.’
In the West of England, Conservative mayor Tim Bowles was elected. Despite now leading the country’s fastest-growing region outside of London, Mayor Bowles said there were several key factors holding the region back. ‘Transport has got to improve, infrastructure is in need of serious investment, we have challenges delivering affordable new homes we have to make sure we are creating jobs for everybody across the region,’ he said.
Mayor Bowles has his eyes trained on the global stage. He will be pushing the already ‘strong brands’ associated with Bristol and Bath in order to showcase the region internationally.
He continued: ‘How we show globally to investors and businesses that we have this real pool of talent here and great opportunities to offer, is the goal. It will be about how we can grow global relations and create a distinct, positive brand for the region as a whole.’
Having already spoken with Mayor Khan in London, Mayor Bowles said he expected the figureheads to be ‘working together as a team in terms of taking ideas forward about devolution’.
However, when looking to the future, Mayor Bowles was cautious not to fly too close to the sun. ‘We want to make sure the first round of devolution works for us,’ he said. ‘It is vital we make a success of it so ministers see it as a good region to devolve to. We do not want to be distracted by taking on different aspects just yet.
‘In any management operation, if things are delivering and working well you are going to get support. Ministers have told us if we prove we can deliver then they will back us.’
With just three years to shine before the next elections, Mayor Bowles was not complacent. However, he was confident it would be enough time to prove himself, as well as the benefits of the mayoral role.
He told The MJ: ‘Any job you take on there is bound to be timelines to it. But the role is very much a long-term strategic one. The strategic projects, like transport and infrastructure, do not get delivered in a few minutes. We have ambitions to think beyond how we are solving today’s problems.’