As the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill weaves its way through the UK Parliament, we are presented with the rare opportunity to fundamentally rewire local economies to work for people.
This article originally appeared in the Municipal Journal.
The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and The King’s Fund are working jointly on a programme of work, commissioned by The Health Foundation, to understand the potential for strategic authorities to have an impact on health inequalities. As part of this we have thought through how this new duty needs to be designed and implemented to be successful, taking into account learning from existing duties.
“a narrow focus could actually exacerbate health inequalities”
In our earlier briefing we recognised that English devolution could have a positive impact on health inequalities, but that it is viewed as a primarily economic policy lever, to generate economic growth in lagging regions. Our evidence review showed that a narrow focus could actually exacerbate health inequalities if the distribution of growth benefits is not considered; and even in other countries where regional policy has narrowed economic inequalities, it does not necessarily follow that health inequalities narrow too. The inference is that health inequalities will not narrow simply as a result of the fact of more devolution, it needs to be accompanied by strong and consistent intent. This has been the case in Greater Manchester which has had clear success, and in other areas such as the West Midlands where health has been a core area for action of the Combined Authority.
This article orignally appeared in the Local Government Chronicle.
Whilst more organized than the previous government’s approach, the essential subtext of English devolution remains intact: Westminster will hand over power and resources to mayors – as long as they enlist their regions in the battle to ‘relight the fire’ of GDP growth for UK plc.
Starmer has made no bones about the centrality of mayors and devolved leaders to his programme for government, signalling his intent early doors by visiting them all within five days of being handed the keys of number 10. He’s also clearly set out a remit for the regions, in the form of Local Growth Plans, on which headline thinking is due to be submitted later this month. No doubt these Plans will be in sharp focus today, given that securing investment will be the main theme of the agenda.
