Core Cities to push for devolution

At a national Devolution Summit in Glasgow next month the leaders and mayors of the UK’s Core Cities will make the case “for more freedoms for the UK's cities”. The Summit will see the launch of a ‘Charter for Local Freedom’, setting out the powers and freedoms that cities, towns and other places will demand from whoever makes up the next Government. And a new report from think tank ResPublica will set out a ‘roadmap’ for devolution to cities and their regions, “to deliver radical and ambitious change to benefit local people and economies”. National politicians and decision-makers will attend the Summit that, taking place on 9 February, has been timed to coincide with the launch of the Smith Commission into devolution to Scotland, and to influence politicians ahead of the General Election.

The Core Cities group recently published a set of proposals in response to last year’s Select Committee report on the work of Arts Council England, calling for devolved funds for the delivery of a series of city cultural strategies approved directly by the DCMS. They are unanimous in their call for greater devolution across the board. Leeds City Council leader Cllr Keith Wakefield said: “Real and meaningful devolution is the key to transforming the economies of our cities and wider regions, opening up opportunities and improving the lives of millions of people as well as bringing about a much-needed rebalancing and strengthening of the national economy.” The leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, said: “All the political parties must make this a major manifesto commitment. Our cities have made great strides in the last two decades, but they could do so much more... Independent forecasts demonstrate that the eight English Core Cities alone could generate an extra £222bn and 1.3m jobs for the country by 2030. That’s the equivalent of adding the entire economy of Denmark to UK plc.” And in Scotland, the Leader of Glasgow City Council, Councillor Gordon Matheson CBE, added: “A centralising, power-grabbing Scottish Government is as much a barrier to achieving optimal economic growth and tackling inequality as an over-bearing Whitehall. All political parties in Scotland should urgently commit to devolving the new Smith Commission powers to Scotland’s major cities and communities, starting with Glasgow, which is best placed to benefit. Merely transferring powers between one parliament and another does not advance the cities agenda.”