Abandon ‘city centric policy obsession’, government urged

Leaders of England’s largest councils have urged new ministers to ensure that their pledge to unleash the potential of the country does not ignore the needs of ‘left behind areas’.

A post-election analysis from the County Councils Network has highlighted that 43 per cent of the new seats won by the Conservatives in England on 12 December are in shire counties, whilst 54 out of the 100 ‘left-behind’ towns identified by the government in its Stronger Towns Fund are in these areas. In total, 70 per cent of Conservative MPs now represent shire county areas.

The CCN, which represents 36 county local authorities, fears a ‘misconception’ that shire counties are all affluent and ‘city centric’ regional devolution policies could prevent them being able to invest in their towns and deprived communities as part of the levelling up agenda.

County leaders are now calling for their areas to receive a fair share of funding for public services, more investment in economic growth, and an extension of devolved powers to the shires. A new analysis by CCN reveals failure to invest in county areas, and to solve the social care funding crisis, will leave these councils facing a funding shortfall of £13.2 billion over the next five years.

In a new document, setting out how the Government’s policies can ‘unleash the potential of counties’, county leaders calls for the government to extend ‘ambitious’ devolution deals to county areas, reform the planning system so decisions over major new housing developments are matched with enough infrastructure and allow bids from rural areas to access the government’s flagship £4.1bn Local Public Transport Fund to help reverse the decline in local bus services in county towns and rural areas.

David Williams, chairman of the County Councils Network, and leader of Hertfordshire County Council, said: “Boris Johnson’s majority government has been elected on a domestic agenda to level-up the left-behind parts of the country, and this is a pledge that CCN welcome. Counties are home to some of our most prosperous and successful areas, but we must not forget that the majority of left behind areas are located within counties; from deprived towns in the north and south, rural and coastal communities in the south-west and east, to former manufacturing hotbeds in the Midlands.

“If the government is to improve the lives of the communities it has pledged to support, then ministers and policymakers must move beyond the misconception that shire counties are all affluent, with this document setting out the tools, powers, and funding needed to unleash the potential of counties. If the government is to genuinely level-up towns, build more homes, and improve regional growth we need more devolved powers, reform to our planning system and access to new funding streams. This will mean moving away from a city centric policy obsession in Westminster that has held back those left-behind communities for decades.

“Fairer funding and a cross-party consensus on social care reform is needed to help close the £13.2 billion funding shortfall of facing our areas. By doing so, we can repay this investment by pledging resource to the growth-enabling services that can make the biggest difference in levelling up communities and spreading prosperity.”