Burnham calls out Whitehall’s ‘shocking failure’ in supporting councils
The Mayor of Greater Manchester was speaking at a Conservative Party conference fringe event in his city, where he told attendees that a lack of support for local authorities is “corrosive” to political trust.
Burnham put the case for further fiscal devolution to both his own party and the room full of Conservative members, suggesting cross-party collaboration is the only way to put pressure on Whitehall.
He said: “Fiscal devolution has got to be a reality now.
“The failure of central government to deal with issues that affect local government over three decades, plus, is quite shocking.
“I’m quite appalled sometimes at how central government treats local government.”
While city region combined authorities like Burnham’s in GM are being given more devolved powers and cash, the ability for local authorities to self-determine where money needs to be spent still falls short, according to the mayor.
Allowing councils more of a say over investment in education, skills development, and the occupational mobility of the regional workforce is essential for recovering the electorate’s trust in politicians, he said.
“People have a sense that politics can’t fix anything anymore, there’s no agency at that very local level just to fix something for somebody.
“I think this is corrosive for the political process and trust, because if you can’t empower people at that local level to improve the basic fabric of where people live, they’re going to look at parties more on the extremes of politics for their answers,” he said, alluding to the rise of Reform UK.
“We must come up with some basic reforms to local government finance to make it all add up and make it possible to be a councillor,” he added.
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Last week, Burnham was the subject of media attention after he revealed in an interview with The New Statesman that Labour MPs were privately asking him to challenge the Prime Minister.
In Manchester yesterday, Burnham said that Whitehall is “constantly putting local government at the bottom of the queue” when it comes to spending reviews, failing to appreciate that local councillors are parties’ last line of defence at the ballot box.
He argued that politicians closely aligned with their localities tend to make better decisions tailored to their constituents and regional competitive advantages.
“The councils are the building blocks of English devolution, and if they crumble beneath it, then devolution will crumble as well.” He said.
Burnham also made a case for local control of housing and reiterated the idea of a visitor levy for Manchester, suggesting residents should not have to shoulder the extra economic burden from tourism and higher visitor numbers.
Extended late-night tram services and extra buses on the network should not be paid for by residents in the form of council tax rises, he argued.
Reform of council tax is also on Burnham’s agenda, who suggested the 1991 banding has left people in Greater Manchester paying higher council tax than those in large parts of London and the South East.
“The direction of successive governments making councils transfer their housing stock has left us in a situation where we don’t have enough grip on housing policy,” he said.
“We’ve all got to put our heads together and think about the position of local government, and I hope we can do this, Conservatives and Labour together, because it affects all our councillors.”
Burnham added: “This is the next phase of devolution – it seems to me – let places really go for it by freeing them up to raise more of their own money.
“We’ve got to start talking seriously about it.”
One minute they want devolution the next their hand held .. what we want is strong honest leadership that creates industry and development without laying waste to what we already have that are assets, that includes greenbelt and heritage sites.
By Anonymous
Maybe the route to ultimate devolution is for Central Government to directly fund and better resource local government, rather than building up another tier of government such as the monolithic organisation Mr. Burnham has built up over the years. As for fiscal devolution, be careful what you wish for – the tax base in the north of England is far less than the South East. The fact is there’s not enough public money to do everything at once, regardless of where and how the money flows from Government. Manchester’s growth journey was led primarily by Richard Leese with a brilliant Chief Executive in Howard Bernstein, long before Mr. Burnham and his Combined Authority came into town.
By Anonymous
It’s good to see that the penny has finally dropped with him, but a pity it’s a few years since his time in Government.
By WayFay
Personally I don’t believe in devolution, I know a lot of people do, so fine, let it be…..but one thing I am sick of is how much Andy Burnham complains. Just do your job. Stop pointing the finger at London.
“Extended late-night tram services and extra buses on the network should not be paid for by residents in the form of council tax rises, he argued.”
Why shouldn’t they be paid for by the residents in council tax rises, it is the residents here who benefit from it. Should Barry in Cromer or Jerry in Scunthorpe pay more tax to allow residents here better transport options? No. It is a local improvement and needs to be paid for locally. If we can’t pay for it, we need to live within our means.
I honestly feel if Andy Burnham got double his current budget, he’d find a way to complain it wasn’t enough.
By Anonymous
Higher taxes for all coming to GM if Burnham gets his way
By Council Tax Payer
The penny finally dropping on Burnham and his empty rhetoric and finger pointing.
By Anonymous