Why decentralisation must go beyond ‘Manchesterism’ – Building a Local Scotland
Cross-party group calls for Citizens’ Assembly to design a genuinely decentralised Scotland.
Building a Local Scotland (BLS) has welcomed Andy Burnham’s commitment to “the biggest rebalancing of power ever seen” but says Scotland must go further than the English model of mayoral city regions if communities are to be genuinely re-empowered.
In a speech today (Monday), Burnham proposed a major transfer of powers to the UK’s nations and regions, alongside the re-empowerment of communities in “every postcode”.
BLS believes, though, that if the UK and Scotland are to emulate Europe’s most successful decentralised societies, we need cash and control placed in truly local, not just remote, regional hands.
Angus Hardie, Convener of Building a Local Scotland and former Chief Executive of the Scottish Community Alliance, said:
“Whilst we applaud the prospective Prime Minister for finally putting decentralisation at the heart of a political project, it must go farther than city regions like Greater Manchester, which in any case involves co-operation between 10 local councils. Andy Burnham should not legislate for Scotland; but his plans for England can spark debate about how to re-empower Scotland’s local communities – a debate that is long overdue, since decentralisation was promised by all parties 27 years ago, when the Scottish Parliament was re-established.
“Scotland has some of the largest ‘local’ councils in Europe but they also lack the planning clout of truly regional authorities. It is widely agreed that our current 32 local authorities are generally too large to be truly local, and too small to be strategic; and powers exercised by local councils everywhere else in Europe are wielded instead by Scottish Government Ministers or quangos.
“This ‘hollowed out democracy’, as COSLA has described it, must change. We therefore urge the Scottish Government to go beyond Manchesterism – and convene a Citizens’ Assembly to produce a template for a truly decentralised Scotland.”
BLS argues that Europe’s most successful democracies combine strong regional institutions with genuinely empowered local government and communities. It believes Scotland requires both a stronger strategic regional tier and a more local level of democratic decision-making if power is to be brought closer to citizens.
Media enquiries: Angus Hardie 07760270432
Image: Manchester – Castlefield in Spring by Stacey Macnaught, Flickr, CC BY 2.0