Comment

Strong leadership not pipe dreams hold key to decent local transport and infrastructure

Chancellor George Osborne’s comments this week about the need for a High Speed 3 rail line to link Manchester with Leeds grabbed the headlines.

And certainly as HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins reviews the £21bn second phase of the project, the idea to invest in extra tunnels and new rail line to complete the much needed link will not have fallen on deaf ears. Government is, after all, very keen to spread the on-going economic upturn beyond London and the south east.

But with this latter goal in mind, it is perhaps time to refocus on Osborne’s less well reported comments also made during his speech in Manchester, about the need for more local elected city mayors to drive investment and create “powerhouse” economies across the UK.

"Without question, London provides a great example of the value that a strong, recognisable elected city leader can have on the local economy and the way that investment can be focused towards local benefit"

"A true powerhouse requires true power,” he said. “So today I am putting on the table and starting the conversation about serious devolution of powers and budgets for any city that wants to move to a new model of city government - and have an elected Mayor."

It was of course an idea that prompted a rake of failed referendums two years ago as voters rejected the notion that a single personality could defend their corner any better than the existing tiers of local government. 

And while London, Leicester, Liverpool, Bristol and Middlesbrough disagreed, any thoughts of following Lord Heseltine’s recommendation in his No Stone Unturned report in October 2012 and to press forward with new plans for more mayors were quietly dropped.

But things are changing. The first £2bn annual tranche of the Single Local Growth Fund is set to be allocated across the UK’s 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships next month bringing a substantial amount of new money under direct regional control with the ability to use this to lever in additional private sector investment.

And while the Transport Select Committee expressed its reservations earlier this month, this means that large amounts of once centrally controlled local transport spending will also be devolved. 

"Osborne is quite right to highlight the fact that an over-dominant London is “unhealthy” for the UK or its economy. And certainly creating new infrastructure such as high speed rail and better road links is central to the solution. But so is local leadership"

“Strategically significant transport projects may not be funded if they do not deliver immediate benefits for LEPs or local authorities,” warned MPs on the committee. “Regional economies may not be sufficiently well developed to allow the private sector to invest significant sums in local transport schemes,” they added.

Hence the need, either through strong LEPs, through strong city mayors or preferably through both, for local leadership and vision so as to, as Lord Heseltine put it, move local authorities from being simply service providers to become partners with central government and agents for innovation and drivers of growth. 

Without question, London provides a great example of the value that a strong, recognisable elected city leader can have on the local economy and the way that investment can be focused towards local benefit.

Osborne is quite right to highlight the fact that an over-dominant London is “unhealthy” for the UK or its economy. And certainly creating new infrastructure such as high speed rail and better road links is central to the solution.

But so is local leadership. Locally elected mayors must surely have a role to play in championing local need and marshalling private sector investment. 

Antony Oliver is the editor of Infrastructure Intelligence

If you would like to contact Antony Oliver about this, or any other story, please email antony.oliver@infrastructure-intelligence.com.