A Tale of One City: The Devo Manc Deal and Its Implications for English Devolution

Abstract

On 2 November 2014 George Osborne stood in the impressive great council chamber of Manchester town hall and, flanked by the ten leaders of Greater Manchester's local authorities, announced a devolution deal for the city‐region. Greater Manchester would receive a significant package of powers over transport, housing, planning, skills, business support and welfare in exchange for creating new governance structures, including a directly elected mayor for the city‐region. This article explores the background to the Devo Manc deal, arguing that it is the product of both a long history of local government collaboration in Greater Manchester and George Osborne's desire for a sweeping restructure of English governance. It traces how the key decisions were taken quickly and by a small number of key officials. The article also identifies some flaws in Devo Manc and considers whether it is an appropriate model for other city‐regions in the UK.

Real Geographies, Real Economies and Soft Spatial Imaginaries: Creating a ‘More than Manchester’ Region

“…By creating new institutions such as the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, and later, New Economy, Greater Manchester's local authorities, with the support of leading private sector actors, were able to develop strategies in key areas such as economic development and infrastructure (Deas, ). This process has accelerated as central government has increasingly begun to view Greater Manchester as an exemplar of efficient, growth‐focused territorial governance (Haughton et al ., ; Kenealy ). The result has been a succession of initiatives by central government to begin to formalize soft city‐regional institutions, beginning with the announcement in 2009 that Greater Manchester, alongside Leeds, would become a pilot city‐regional authority.…”

“…Over the course of 2014–16, central government committed to further devolution for the management and delivery of nominated public services, together with experiments in enhanced fiscal autonomy. The view in central government was again that Greater Manchester could serve as a trailblazer for city‐region devolution more generally (Kenealy, ).…”

“…Initially, these focused on addressing the legacy issues of urban industrial decline in the 1970s, but more recently Manchester has emerged at the heart of the government's plans to build the so‐called Northern Powerhouse: an initiative without a strong institutional base and a soft space with indeterminate boundaries (Lee, ). Crucially, in this latest phase of region‐building, the leaders of the Manchester city‐region have been seen as setting the agenda for the devolution of powers and resources to new city‐regional government arrangements across northern England, drawing on economic imaginaries constructed around a reading of agglomeration economics that privileges the role of large cities (Haughton et al ., ; Kenealy, ).…”

Citizen participation and changing governance: cases of devolution in England

“…The so-called 'Devo Manc' deal, between the Treasury and the ten local authorities of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), was signed in November 2014. Devo Manc resulted from a double coincidence of interests (Kenealy, 2016). First, unlike any other area in England, the local authorities had long cooperated successfully and could therefore work effectively together to build strong relationships and political leadership (Kenealy, 2016).…”

Public Services after Austerity: Zombies, Suez or Collaboration?

“…A directly elected mayor will inherit significant powers over transport, planning and housing, skills and economic development in May 2017, with the hope that it will boost the region's economy and provide better public services for the population. 12 Greater Manchester's 'deal' to integrate heath and social care is the most notable development from a public management perspective. A Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2015 between NHS England and the area's local authorities and health commissioning bodies (clinical commissioning groups or CCGs) sets out a 'roadmap to full devolution' of health and care services, underpinned by the principle that 'all decisions about Greater Manchester will be taken with Greater Manchester'.…”