Rewiring the state must mean rewiring London
Cllr Stephen Cowan, Chair
| London Councils
This is a moment to be optimistic. The government's commitment to rewiring the state is a chance to make the London we love even better: a vibrant, modern city where good growth is felt in every postcode, and people are empowered to live healthy, secure and prosperous lives. A capital that not only works better for Londoners, but one which helps lift up people’s life chances across the UK.
First though, let us imagine a UK government that announced it planned to merge the combined authorities of Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, York & North Yorkshire, and the North East into a single super-authority - with one democratically elected mayor overseeing officials seeking to engender better outcomes for a combined population of 9 million people. Imagine that the 29 councils, and their democratically elected administrations that make up those areas being told they will no longer have any formal role in the regional authority's strategic decision-making. Such a plan would rightly be ridiculed.
But that scenario is not an unreasonable description of London’s current system of governance – a consequence of the thinking and horse-trading which took place at the end of the last century when London devolution was being established.
Getting London’s rewiring right this time matters.
For good and bad reasons, London remains the UK’s economic powerhouse. It has lifted the rest of the UK out of every recession since the British credit crisis of 1772–1773 (that’s the crash that arguably led to the American Revolution).
London is Western Europe’s biggest city – roughly 15 times larger in area and four times more populous than the City of Paris, twice the landmass of New York City. Indeed, of the 27 European Union states, 13 have smaller national populations than London.
Meanwhile more than 300 languages are spoken by Londoners, making it one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world. And London tops almost every list of the world’s most important cities.
In this context, London’s 32 boroughs and the Corporation of London are a huge strength. Each electing representatives and leaders who know and care more about their proudly diverse places than any unelected official in a centralised authority ever could. Each demonstrating the innovation and drive that contributes to our Greater London.
In Sir Sadiq Khan, London has a Mayor that is an inspiration to people around the world – the very epitome of our forward thinking, progressive city – leading London with ambition.
So the questions are: how can we improve in such a way as to bring these strengths together; and how can we give London a system that better allows us to rise to the challenge of this fast-moving age while making sure London’s democracy delivers for generations to come?
London Councils has started the work to answer these questions. It’s working cross-party with partners from across London and drawing on the evidence and experiences of elsewhere.
There are historical precedents that can point the way. Almost 80 years ago the victorious powers gave West Germany a constitution which still serves its successor well today.
Objectivity alongside principles such as subsidiarity and ensuring government is agile, responsive, representative of place and minimises disruption must form the bedrock of any change.
Little can be gained in drawing power out of Whitehall only to concentrate it in a new centre. Decisions and the funding behind them should sit as close to democratically led communities as possible.
London's regional governance needs to evolve to reflect the realities of the modern era. A new governance settlement must mean boroughs and the Mayor taking some of the big strategic decisions together, like in all other Mayoral Strategic Authorities – rather than continuing to rely on voluntary cooperation.
This is what London needs to better modernise public services, turbocharge housebuilding, deliver inclusive growth, tackle inequality and support Londoners with the jobs and skills they need to succeed.
These new structures must maximise the benefit of new powers and resources.
What that looks like in practice is up for debate. But we should never be afraid of having a mature and informed conversation about how best to make sure the UK and its capital thrives for decades to come.
