The Future of Local Government- Donna Hall
- 1. Devolution: A Game Changer Donna Hall, CBE Chief Executive Wigan Council
- 2. GM Context • GM is now “Officially the Most Exciting Place in the UK!” The Guardian – 25th Feb 2015 • Significant acceleration towards GM Strategy goals • Key milestones: – Devolution Agreement signed in November 2014 – Health and Social Care MoU agreed in February 2015 – Further Devolution to GM announced in the July 2015 Budget • From a base of loose joint working on specific projects towards formal collaboration on a wide range of issues • Significant additional responsibilities and pressure to deliver • Ambition to secure control of or influence over all £22bn of public sector funding in GM
- 3. Projection for GM Economy • Northern Powerhouse, devolution and wider GM Strategic Growth and Reform will drive: – Increased economic growth in line with areas such as Greater London – Additional jobs – strength of growth will see falls in inactivity and unemployment of GM residents – Need for housing provision for additional residents in GM alongside – Increased levels of in (and out) commuting from surrounding areas
- 4. Implications of Accelerated Growth • Can’t take growth for granted: need to invest to ensure that potential is achieved. • Major infrastructure impacts: transport, employment, land, housing & energy. • Significant local service pressures: education, health & social care, and leisure. • Health & social care reform key to ensure we have healthy population able to contribute to, and benefit from, economic growth • For local residents to benefit need to ensure they have effective support, otherwise growth may result in higher migration or commuting • Increased use of technology across all sectors is expected to drive changing demand for labour: major re-skilling challenge • Will also be impacts on neighbouring areas that will need to be addressed.
- 5. GM Devolution: GMCA powers • Devolved responsibility for business support budgets • The ability to work with Government to reshape and re-structure Further Education (FE) provision within Greater Manchester • The power and resources to scale up our work on complex dependency pilot to help 50,000 people who have struggled to find work get into jobs • GM to jointly commission (with the Department for Work and Pensions) the next phase of the Work Programme • Working with GM Clinical Commissioning Groups to develop a business plan for the integration of health and social care across GM. This provided the platform to secure the devolution of £6bn H&SC budgets in February • Further announcement made in March 2015 budget to devolve Business Rate Retention • July 2015 Budget announced further enabling powers and flexibilities across a range of areas including borrowing, the Fire service, planning, children’s services and Sunday trading
- 6. GM Devolution: Elected Mayor • Devolved responsibility for a joined up and multi-year transport budget • Responsibility for franchised bus services, including powers over fares, routes, frequency and ticketing • The power to introduce integrated smart ticketing across all local modes of transport • The ability to shape local rail station policy and development across the Greater Manchester area • Powers over strategic planning, including the power to create a statutory spatial framework for Greater Manchester. This will need to be approved by a unanimous vote of the Mayor’s Cabinet • A two third majority will also be required on all policy and spending plans • Control of a new £300 million recyclable Housing Investment Fund • Control of a reformed “earn back” deal, worth £900 million over 30 years • The role currently covered by the Police and Crime Commissioner
- 7. GM Devolution: Further freedoms and flexibilities • Power to borrow for the CA, subject to compliance with the Prudential Borrowing Code • Transfer of GM Fire and Rescue Authority responsibilities to the GM Mayor, further promoting and enabling integration of GM services • Additional Mayoral planning powers, including Compulsory Purchase Powers and power to establish Mayoral Development Corporations, driving growth and regeneration • Power to establish a GM Land Commission, enabling GM and Government to jointly take an overview of all publically-owned land • Reviewing, with Government, the delivery of children’s services, exploring opportunities for integration and efficiency • Transfer of Sunday trading regulations to the Mayor July 2015 Budget announced further devolution agreement with GM, providing additional enabling powers, freedoms and flexibilities:
- 8. GM Devolution: Key Milestones • Health and Social Care – 2015/16: build-up year towards full devolution, including development of an Outline Business Case by August 2015 and a full Strategic Plan by December 2015 for implementation at the start of the 2016/17 financial year – April 2016 onwards: Full devolution of agreed budgets, with appropriate governance arrangements in place • Expansion of Working Well – Phase 1 – 2015-17: expansion of existing pilot, testing approach with broader cohorts – Phase 2 – 2017 onwards: alignment with Work Programme co- commissioning • Work Programme co-commissioning – Procurement process expected to start early 2016 – Expected to start in Spring 2017
- 9. GM Devolution: Key Milestones • Reshaping Further Education provision – April 2015: devolution of AGE grant to GM, supporting higher level apprenticeships – 2017 academic year: new FE framework in place to incentivise FE provision of the skills required by employers. A focus on achieving the outcomes required locally, rather than on simply maximising the number of people taking up courses • Early Years – Roll out of the EY New Delivery Model is underway across GM to improve the school readiness of all children in GM – Further work required to identify the resources required to scale up this work
- 10. GM Devolution: Key Milestones • Policing – By November 2015: introduce and pass legislation to extend the term of the existing PCC to 2017, pending the introduction of a directly elected Mayor – By Spring 2016: introduce and pass primary legislation to enable PCC responsibilities to pass to Metro Mayors – By November 2016: introduce and pass secondary legislation to enable GM PCC responsibilities to pass to the GM directly elected Mayor • Business Support – Phase 1 – 2015-17: devolution of Business Growth Service and UKTI Trade Advice “as possible within existing contracts” – Phase 2 – 2017 onwards: full control of business support services
- 11. GM Devolution: Key Milestones • Housing Investment Fund – Fund became operational on 1 April 2015 – A prospectus has been launched to invite the submission of EoIs • Bus franchising – Autumn 2015: Government expected to outline content and timetable for new legislation (Buses Bill) – Spring 2017: Mayor considers adoption of franchising policy – 2018/19: Potential first franchise operational • Rail station devolution – December 2015: Successful bidders to new rail franchises to be announced – April 2016: New rail franchises to start – April 2016 onwards: potential date for TfGM to have greater control of GM rail stations
- 12. GM Devolution: Key Milestones • Highways reform – January 2016: Key Route Network (KRN) strategy published – 1 April 2016: Shared Services arrangements between some GM LAs proposed to commence • Multi-year financial settlement – To be negotiated as part of CSR 2015 • Earnback – Funding from 2015/16 onwards of £30m a year for 30 years, subject to 5-yearly “gateway reviews” to assess impact – Enables delivery of Metrolink Trafford Park and SEMMS
- 13. Legislation Provisional Timetable • Cities and Devolution bill in the Queen’s speech – May • Currently progressing through House of Lords – Summer 2015 • House of Commons – Autumn 2015 • Royal Assent – December 2015 • Secondary legislation required to draw down powers
- 14. Delivering Devolution • No doubt this is an exciting time for Greater Manchester • Opportunity to make a real difference for our residents and deliver our ambition at the GM and locality level But …. • We need to rise to the challenge • It will require us to work and think differently
- 15. Delivering Devolution: Leadership of Place • Our devolution commitments and reform principles require us to work differently • New governance, scrutiny and accountability frameworks • Achieving our ambitions requires us to develop new models of delivery and ways of achieving outcomes • Increasingly need to work beyond our organisational and professional boundaries • Creates a huge leadership challenge • Understanding how we develop our leadership capacity collaboratively across the public sector • Aligned with existing leadership activity
- 16. Delivering Devolution: Knowledge and Information • Shared understanding of those who: – Create the greatest demand across public sector services so we can work to improve outcomes and reduce demand and – Are in danger of becoming complex so that we can put in place early intervention measures to prevent this happening • Use our understanding of the triggers / risk factor of dependency to target early intervention and prevention activity • Prioritise what needs to be shared to support and the legal basis under which we can already do this
- 17. Delivering Devolution: Place Based Working • A different approach to place based delivery that: – Generates a better response to incidents and to dealing with things giving rise to those incidents – Delivers the best outcomes for local people – Creates better understanding and engagement between partners and the community – Develops better lines of communication and new approaches to problem solving – Results in more effective use of resources for all agencies • Building on existing multi agency working to develop innovative ways of working within the context of our devolution commitments
- 18. Continuing the devolution journey • The existing deals represent significant progress towards our overall ambition for GM • But this is the start of our journey not the end • The forthcoming Spending Review provides an opportunity to explore further potential for devolution • GM submission to the process around four key priorities: – Ensuring GM has the critical infrastructure for growth – Increasing productivity – Building new relationships between citizens, the state and society – Fiscal reform