IQ-Magazine-Issue-17

the quarterly debate: Devolution
IQ debate
The debate on whether or not to devolve central government powers to Norfolk,
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire has been somewhat overshadowed by the EU
Referendum. No doubt once all has been decided, attention will turn to what’s likely
to be the next hot topic, devolution
Lucy Nethsingha
Leader of The Liberal Democrat Group
Cambridgeshire County Council
“In March this year the Chancellor announced a
‘Devolution Deal for the East’ with an elected Mayor
for East Anglia. This announcement followed weeks
of crazy negotiations between council leaders.
Unfortunately they failed to check that the proposals
had any backing from their councils. Within weeks,
the proposal had been thrown out by several councils.
Negotiations are continuing to try to salvage some
kind of deal, but is the deal worth saving?
The Mayor would have sweeping powers to decide
on planning matters. This would mean that one
person (in reality a Conservative appointee, as with
Police and Crime Commissioners) would decide on
where thousands of new homes would be built.
The document proposes setting up a new “combined
authority” to keep a check on the sweeping powers
given to the new Mayor, but in the initial document
a 2/3 majority was needed to reject any of the
Mayor’s proposals.
This does not sound like devolving power to local
people, but is locking the concerns of local people
out of the planning process, while giving an easy
“one-stop shop” for large developers.
The proposals also introduce yet another layer of
local government. In East Anglia we already have
Parish, District and County Councils, so the idea of
having yet another layer, a combined authority with
a Mayor’s office on the top of the three layers we
already have, seems crazy. Devolution should give
power to our Councils to get on with the job; we
don’t need a foreign Mayoral system to introduce yet
more bureaucracy!”
John Dugmore
Chief Executive
Suffolk Chamber of Commerce
“We live in an era of important D-words: deficit,
debt and now, devolution.
Suffolk Chamber of Commerce is broadly supportive
of the principles behind Government plans to give
Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk more control
over business-critical issues such as infrastructure,
investment and skills development.
We think that would allow the private and public
sectors, as well as local communities, to make
better decisions and take speedier advantage of
opportunities in the fast-moving national and
international economic systems.
However, we are keen to ensure that the voice of
business is heard loud and clear both during the
current consultation stage and if – or when – the
new, devolved structures are in place. Any significant
initiatives need to be evaluated against the expertise
and needs of Suffolk’s wealth creators.
The business community must be at the heart of the
devolved entity and not kept at arm’s length or used
as an occasional think tank.
No matter how the devolved authority is organised,
it will be trust, relationships and knowledge-sharing
between those organisations involved that will help
devolution realise its potential.
Devolution should be all about another D-word –
delivery – and that is what business is all about.”
issue 17 | page 21