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Jon Cruddas urges Labour focus on devolution to cities Jon Cruddas urges Labour focus on devolution to cities
(about 1 hour later)
Labour’s policy coordinator, Jon Cruddas, has called for a radical devolution of power to be at the heart of the party’s public service plans, arguing that market-based reforms to public services have rarely saved money or improved outcomes.Labour’s policy coordinator, Jon Cruddas, has called for a radical devolution of power to be at the heart of the party’s public service plans, arguing that market-based reforms to public services have rarely saved money or improved outcomes.
In a new collection of essays published by the thinktank Compass, Cruddas states that “the efficiency narrative has run its course” and says it is essential for Labour to put devolution to the cities at the core of its reforms if its wider social and economic plans are to work.In a new collection of essays published by the thinktank Compass, Cruddas states that “the efficiency narrative has run its course” and says it is essential for Labour to put devolution to the cities at the core of its reforms if its wider social and economic plans are to work.
In what will be seen as a direct response to the chancellor George Osborne’s proposals for “devo-max” in Greater Manchester, Cruddas has joined an alliance of Labour politicians on the left and right of the party to make a case for recasting the relationship between citizen and state. In what will be seen as a direct response to proposals by the chancellor, George Osborne, for “devo-max” in Greater Manchester, Cruddas has joined an alliance of Labour politicians on the left and right of the party to make a case for recasting the relationship between citizen and state.
Cruddas accuses Labour of having become a party of “institutional conservatives”, and says there needs to be a deeper redistribution of power away from Whitehall to city regions.Cruddas accuses Labour of having become a party of “institutional conservatives”, and says there needs to be a deeper redistribution of power away from Whitehall to city regions.
He writes: “The ideology and institutions of 70 years ago became the horizon of our ambition. Confronted by the revolution of liberal market economics in the 1980s we sometimes just defended institutions and ideas that were offering diminishing returns. We spoke as egalitarians and reformers but we had become institutional conservatives.”He writes: “The ideology and institutions of 70 years ago became the horizon of our ambition. Confronted by the revolution of liberal market economics in the 1980s we sometimes just defended institutions and ideas that were offering diminishing returns. We spoke as egalitarians and reformers but we had become institutional conservatives.”
The essay collection – Finding Our Voice: Making the 21st Century – is seen as significant since the authors span a wide Labour political spectrum, from the more Blairite shadow ministers such as Liz Kendall and Lord Adonis to leftists such as Lisa Nandy and Jon Trickett.The essay collection – Finding Our Voice: Making the 21st Century – is seen as significant since the authors span a wide Labour political spectrum, from the more Blairite shadow ministers such as Liz Kendall and Lord Adonis to leftists such as Lisa Nandy and Jon Trickett.
“We must turn our cities into powerhouses of innovation and economic regeneration and citizens must play an active role in determining the services they receive in this new devolved arrangement,” Cruddas writes.“We must turn our cities into powerhouses of innovation and economic regeneration and citizens must play an active role in determining the services they receive in this new devolved arrangement,” Cruddas writes.
In a joint essay, Kendall and Nandy say public services have not kept up with the change in the way in which people interact with one another over the last 30 to 40 years, including a loss of deference, hierarchy and gender stereotypes.In a joint essay, Kendall and Nandy say public services have not kept up with the change in the way in which people interact with one another over the last 30 to 40 years, including a loss of deference, hierarchy and gender stereotypes.
“Politicians have tried to compensate for the collapse of the old hierarchies and the failure of the centralised state by using performance indicators and micro-management to exert control”, they say. But they claim bureaucratic command has failed, and they argue that public services instead “need to be determined by and with citizens. At present we no longer trust the old elites, but we do not trust ordinary people either.”“Politicians have tried to compensate for the collapse of the old hierarchies and the failure of the centralised state by using performance indicators and micro-management to exert control”, they say. But they claim bureaucratic command has failed, and they argue that public services instead “need to be determined by and with citizens. At present we no longer trust the old elites, but we do not trust ordinary people either.”
The book is likely to be a seen as a last-minute call to make devolution and empowerment a big theme in the party manifesto, and part of a wider shift towards a quasi-federal structure of governance in the UK.The book is likely to be a seen as a last-minute call to make devolution and empowerment a big theme in the party manifesto, and part of a wider shift towards a quasi-federal structure of governance in the UK.
There has been frustration in Labour circles about the speed and energy with which Osborne has sought to colonise this territory through his proposals for devo-max in Labour-controlled Manchester, including new tax-raising powers and a directly elected city mayor.There has been frustration in Labour circles about the speed and energy with which Osborne has sought to colonise this territory through his proposals for devo-max in Labour-controlled Manchester, including new tax-raising powers and a directly elected city mayor.
Ben Lucas, one of the advisers to the regional city movement, says it is hard to see how the devolution of power to Greater Manchester will not be followed by similar developments in West Yorkshire, the Midlands, the north-east and the south-west. In Manchester, power is being devolved over health and social care, skills, transport, housing investment, employment and business support.Ben Lucas, one of the advisers to the regional city movement, says it is hard to see how the devolution of power to Greater Manchester will not be followed by similar developments in West Yorkshire, the Midlands, the north-east and the south-west. In Manchester, power is being devolved over health and social care, skills, transport, housing investment, employment and business support.
Lucas says that too often local politicians have been captured and institutionalised by their councils, and politics is conducted in a party political culture in which becoming an MP, rather than a council leader, is the overriding career objective.Lucas says that too often local politicians have been captured and institutionalised by their councils, and politics is conducted in a party political culture in which becoming an MP, rather than a council leader, is the overriding career objective.
Adonis says in his essay: “The core insight of the case for sub-national economic development is this: at their best, local institutions have both an incentive to deliver jobs and growth in their areas and the local insight and information to do it well.”Adonis says in his essay: “The core insight of the case for sub-national economic development is this: at their best, local institutions have both an incentive to deliver jobs and growth in their areas and the local insight and information to do it well.”
Jon Trickett, the shadow civil service minister, calls for a cultural revolution in local services, arguing: “The new times we live in require a horizontal, democratic and egalitarian culture of information-sharing and decision-making so that services are flexible and responsive to citizens’ needs.”Jon Trickett, the shadow civil service minister, calls for a cultural revolution in local services, arguing: “The new times we live in require a horizontal, democratic and egalitarian culture of information-sharing and decision-making so that services are flexible and responsive to citizens’ needs.”