November 2011

Warwick Commission on Elected Mayors and City Leadership launches today

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Published November 21, 2011, in Elected mayors


A MAJOR investigation into the role of elected mayors in local government in the UK is launched today (November 21, 2011) by the , less than a week after the Localism Act passed into law.

Supported by , publishers of The Chamberlain News, The Warwick Commission on elected Mayors and City Leadership will set out the challenges and opportunities presented by the government’s proposals to introduce elected mayors in core cities in England over the next two years.

The Commission will answer the key question: “What is the role of elected mayors in providing strategic leadership to cities?”

It will also, crucially, examine whether and how the mayoral model has improved the lot of cities in terms of economic prosperity and the well-being of citizens.

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One year in, LEPs start eyeing more powers

By:
Published November 20, 2011, in LEPs


RJF attended the Birmingham outing of the series on LEPs, chaired by BIS Select Committee chairman MP alongside CfC’s Andrew Carter. Around 20 people attended, including representatives from Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire and Leiceter & Leicestershire.

Curiously, Greater Birmingham & Solihull were not among the number, but its record was vigorously endorsed by event host Mark Smith of PwC and Birmingham Chamber President Mike Ward. Hat tip too to London-based solicitors and parliamentary agents Bircham Dyson Bell which is sponsoring the series.

The session was strictly , so no names, no pack drill on the more opinionated comments. We’re on safe ground though, we think, to highlight some key discussion points.

As CfC’s  noted, progress among LEPs is patchy. They’re doing different things

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VIEWPOINT: Why social services will dominate the mayoral agenda, eventually

By:
Published November 3, 2011, in Elected mayors, Politics


HERE’S the elephant in the room.

Birmingham kills people.

Every year, children, old people and vulnerable adults die in the care of Birmingham City Council, and sometimes it’s the council’s fault.

What usually then happens is that the director of social services (or whatever the post is currently named) falls on his or her sword, and an interim director is flown in to sorts things out. They fail and leave eventually, and a permanent director is appointed again after the original fuss has died down, and the cycle begins again.

What the citizens of Birmingham never see, however, is a senior politician taking the blame full-on. Responsibility is devolved and diluted away from the leader’s office, it gathers briefly around the feet of the cabinet member responsible, who handily stands back while the officer cadre in the council takes the hit.

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Consultation may fox anti-mayor campaigners – but businesses need to engage

By:
Published November 3, 2011, in Elected mayors


Cities minister Greg Clark

THE GOVERNMENT is seeking to spark a higher level of debate about elected mayors with its announcement of a public consultation on what powers the new roles should have.

Up to now, reluctant local authorities and most local politicians have adopted something of an ‘ignore it and it will go away’ approach. This has left it to a handful of political obsessives (guilty as charged), enthusiasts, informal citizens’ groups and just a few lone – potentially opportunist – local politicians to set the agenda.

Now, though, the smart move by cities minister ‘s of launching a formal consultation will force the debate out into the open. In particular, the local authorities concerned are to be consulted directly on what mayors should do, how they should do it, and how their performance should be scrutinised.

This is bad news for the nay sayers who like to argue that there’s no point in having elected mayors because they’ll have no more powers than the current set-up. The very process of discussing  what new powers a mayor should have will most likely work in favour of the ‘yes’ campaigners.

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