Directly elected mayors will need far greater powers over transport, planning and the economy if they are to realise their full potential, says Alexandra Jones.
With 11 of England’s cities set to hold mayoral referenda by May 2012, the debate is growing about what exactly mayors could mean for cities. What will their roles look like? How much power will they have? And what will they mean for local economic growth and jobs?
Mayors need space to lead their city and the formal tools to address local economic needs.To respond to some of these questions, Centre for Cities and the Institute for Government have published a joint study reviewing the potential for mayors to support growth in our cities.
Our report, ‘Big Shot or Long Shot? How elected mayors can help drive economic growth in England's cities’ concludes that mayors have potential to bring about positive outcomes for city economies – but to realize this potential the Government needs to go further to devolve greater powers to mayors on transport, planning and skills, giving mayors not just space to lead their city but also the formal tools to address local economic needs.
Mayors offer an opportunity because, while the existing system clearly works well in some cities – Manchester being a notable example - from an economic perspective the current system of local government contains governance challenges that make it more difficult for cities to support economic growth. Mayors offer a way of overcoming these challenges and supporting cities to realize their economic potential.
For example, a mayor’s direct election, strong executive position and greater security of tenure mean that he or she can be elected on a mandate to take challenging decisions of strategic importance which are of wider benefit to a city economy.
In London this has enabled, for example, the mayor to introduce the city congestion charge and to introduce a Supplementary Business Rate that helped to pay for much needed infrastructure in the form of Crossrail.
According to mayors interviewed by the Institute for Government, it is easier to take these decisions as a mayor rather than a city councillor, as accountability is to the local authority as a whole rather than to an individual ward.
Mayors also have the potential to connect with central government and key players in the wider local economy. They tend to be more visible than local councillors – far more local citizens can name mayors than councillors – and this means they have the potential to be a clear figurehead and representative voice for communication with local business and Government, as well as a first point of contact for city economic concerns.
Mayors also have the potential to increase efficiency and coherence by overseeing the many layers of the public sector. Both as a result of their formal powers and also ‘soft powers’, mayors are also in a powerful position to build working relationships with individuals and organisations across a wide geographic area.
But mayors are not a magic bullet on their own and our research found that, for them to realise their potential, the Government needs to offer them additional powers.
In particular, we would recommend that mayors need to have strategic oversight of the council’s core strategy (the Local Development Framework) to ensure that it looks beyond administrative boundaries; the power to make decisions on strategic planning applications which support economic growth; chairing the Integrated Transport Authority – we know that successful transport policy can enable economic growth; and to co-chair the Local Enterprise Partnership - giving mayors a strong presence amongst the local business community.
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Further reading: Big Shot or Long Shot? How elected mayors can help drive economic growth in England's cities |
This articulation of what city economies need from the cities themselves suggests that, if mayors are to respond flexibly to the needs of different places, then cities should also have the option to vote for a ‘metro mayor’ – a mayor covering a much wider geographic area, such as the Local Enterprise Partnership. These metro mayors would then need additional powers over transport, skills and planning, drawing on the best from the London model.
Mayors continue to be a controversial topic but Centre for Cities and Institute for Government’s joint research suggests they have real potential to make a real difference - if they have real powers and if cities can make their own decisions about the level at which mayors would operate.
As the Localism Bill passes through the Lords over the next couple of weeks the Government has a real opportunity to give mayors the best possible chance of supporting cities to prosper in the future.
Alexandra Jones is chief executive of Centre for Cities
