Is Devolution A Good Deal?
In the face of so many cuts over the last 5 years and contiuned years is the new Devolution deal good for our region?
£15M a year for 30 years - Will that be enough?
Redcar MP Anna Turley doesn't think so:
“The deal on the table today from the government is quite frankly, an insult, after their failure to support our steel industry and their ever decreasing support package for the workforce which has still not materialised.
More powers and funding to allow Teesside to drive forward the local economy is a good thing but this is drop in the ocean. The support we really needed was intervention to save the steel industry and the thousands of jobs and businesses dependent on it. Government ministers travelling up to talk about growth and regeneration after allowing the local economy and community to suffer such a huge blow, costing thousands of jobs, is shameful.
The announced £450 million investment funding is really £15 million a year over a period of 30 years which is just a fraction of what is needed to make up for past and future cuts to local council budgets. Recent experience with the SSI support package makes me wonder whether we will see this money at all.
It is also disappointing to see nothing on apprenticeships which would have allowed Teesside to support the aspirations of our young people and develop the skills needed for local growth industries. The promised powers over bus services, which is a big issue for my constituents, is also fairly vague and reliant on new legislation that is not yet in the parliamentary timetable.
On our steelworks and now devolution, Teesside has been given a raw deal. It is yet more proof that the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ is a scam, promising the world but delivering very little.”
Commenting on the Tees Valley Devolution Deal Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Tom Blenkinsop, said:
“It has to be remembered that councils over the past 5 years and for the foreseeable future will have faced an unprecedented level of cuts by the Tories that has severely diminished the services local authorities have been able to provide for local people. So, the devolution deal signed today should acknowledge that tens of millions of pounds have already been lost from Teesside communities.
Inevitably there are pluses and minuses to the devolution deal. A newly formed Tees Valley Investment Fund that will have an allocation of £15m per year is welcome, but you have to put this alongside the cuts I’ve already mentioned and question ‘what will £15m be worth in 30 years’ time?’
Any claims that this deal has magically created a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ need to be tempered. Particularly in light of the Government’s failure to support steelmaking on Teesside.
Obviously I have concerns around the Government’s insistence that a Mayor has to be part of any deal and I would like to see the details of any autonomous powers they may have, but I do welcome that the Mayor will also be required to consult the Tees Valley Cabinet – made up of local authority leaders - on his or her strategies, which it may reject if three of the five members agree to do so.
With a lot of reservations I do welcome the deal in principle. I recognise that, for the area to have any clout on the national stage, it requires local authorities working together on key projects for the area such as creating more jobs, developing skills for our young people and major infrastructure projects.”