Last week Andy Burnham gave his first speech as Prime Minister. Lacking both notes and a podium, the unassuming nature of the speech outside 10 Downing Street belied the radicalism of many of his promises. Notably, his promise to ‘take power out of here [Westminster] and carry it into every postcode in the land so that they can do more' followed weeks of speculation about the extent and feasibility of Burnham's devolution agenda.
Yet, details on the Government's plans are sparse. Whatever the precise nature of these ambitions, it promises to be a busy period for Angela Rayner, who has been reappointed to the position of secretary of state for housing, communities and local government. Indeed, the success of her tenure – and the success of the Government overall – will depend largely on the extent to which she is able to overcome the main and often long-entrenched barriers to the devolution of powers and funding from Whitehall.
Ever since we launched, The Future Governance Forum (FGF) has made the case for devolution and how to make it deeper, more resilient and more impactful.
One way Rayner can deliver the PM's ambition would be to combine existing funding streams, rather than separate budgets, for local government, health, policing etc.
Here are three steps we believe Angela Rayner should take to deliver the PM's bold ambitions to ‘deliver a stronger, more strategic centre that empowers local leaders, and acts as the engine room for driving economic growth across the whole country'.
Firstly, Andy Burnham's commitment to growth funds is really encouraging and in line with what we've called for in our proposal for ‘Total Place settlements'. It's time for the Government to give mayoral combined authorities much stronger funding and investment levers to drive local growth in every postcode.
One way Rayner can deliver the PM's ambition would be to combine existing funding streams, rather than separate budgets, for local government, health, policing etc.
Secondly, the new secretary of state should work with the Treasury to give strategic authorities much greater fiscal and investment powers. Rayner should not only fight to give authorities the right to choose where to spend money, but also to give them more flexibility over what money they spend. Delivering local growth, for example, will require stronger fiscal powers. This could include visitor levies, greater business rates retention, and land value capture.
Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves kickstarted the process of drawing up a ‘roadmap' to fiscal devolution by the time of the Autumn Budget. The new administration with their emphasis on devolution gives a chance to make this more ambitious.
Thirdly, Rayner and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds should work with mayors and local leaders to ensure the Government's Industrial Strategy connects with, and aligns with, regional Local Growth Plans. The Government's focus should be to channel investment and innovation support to the sectoral clusters, in local areas identified in those plans as having the best chance to drive local economic growth and reindustrialisation everywhere.
In wanting to both devolve powers and transform the way the state works, the Prime Minister has set an ambitious test for himself, Rayner and ministers across the new government. Success will mean giving regional leaders the new powers and additional resources they need to deliver greater growth in every postcode, and creating a more agile partnership between central and local government.
If Rayner delivers major reforms to the way investment is planned and delivered that we've called for here, working with the new No10 North established as the ‘nerve centre' of Burnham's Government, that would be a critical step towards delivering the change Burnham has promised he will deliver, and which voters are crying out for.
It would also show that the Government understands that if you want to renew the nation, first you have to transform the state.
Gil Richards is a researcher at The Future Governance Forum
