Devolution boost for Greater Manchester expected in upcoming Budget

Greater control over spending is expected to be passed to local leaders in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands as part of new devolution agreements, the Times newspaper has reported.

In Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s upcoming Budget, set to be revealed on 15th March, metro-mayors in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands are expected to receive full control over budgets for devolved policy areas, including education, transport and housing. According to the Times, the plans will give devolved city-regions full control over how they spend money, rather than requiring approval for policies from government departments in London.

Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street have been in negotiations with Westminster over devolving further powers to local leadership and are expected to be seen as testing grounds for the new funding arrangements. The change follows the publication last year of the government’s Levelling-Up White Paper by the then Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, which sets out how greater local control over services offer a solution to addressing regional inequality. The White Paper established how Greater Manchester and the West Midlands (including Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry), as the most populous urban areas in England outside the capital, could act as blueprints for future devolution deals with other cities and regions.

Plans expected to be announced in tomorrow’s Budget will see Greater Manchester and the West Midlands combined authorities allocated billions from the national budget to deliver on its devolved policies as it sees fit, replacing the need to bid for funding from Whitehall departments which can lead to greater uncertainty on project and inhibit investment from the private sector. However, city-regions would not be given powers to raise funding themselves through taxation at this stage with combined authorities treated like government departments in their own right.

The proposed changes come after negotiations between local leaders and Whitehall concluded last week, and follow the success stories of devolved leadership nationwide. A government source explained to the Times’ Whitehall Editor Chris Smyth:

“So much of what has happened is that the regions make proposals and civil servants in London decide. The model the chancellor has talked about is saying ‘You decide, the leadership is mature enough’. ”

Areas where Greater Manchester is expected to gain additional control over spending include: transport, education and adult education, energy infrastructure and housing.