Former top mandarin Philip Rycroft says levelling up must be accompanied by massive devolution to the English regions

The Government’s levelling up agenda will not properly succeed if it is not accompanied by significant devolution of political powers, one of the UK’s most powerful former civil servants has said.

Philip Rycroft, the former permanent secretary to the Department for Exiting the European Union, told The Yorkshire Post that successive Governments had failed to properly devolve power to the English regions, adding the current Government was “talking a good game” on devolution but coming up short on delivery.

Mr Rycroft added that the feelings of disenfranchisement that fuelled so much of the political and social unrest that the UK has seen in recent years was down to an overly centralised power structure. He argues that handing decision-making over areas like taxation, healthcare, transport, education and even legislative matters would empower the regions and said dismantling this hoarding of decision in the capital represented an “urgent mission” for the nation.

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Mr Rycroft, who was born in Kirby Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, said failing to devolve far greater powers to the English regions than have already been bestowed would be “politically a big mistake”.

Philip Rycroft, the former permanent secretary to the Department for Exiting the European Union.Philip Rycroft, the former permanent secretary to the Department for Exiting the European Union.
Philip Rycroft, the former permanent secretary to the Department for Exiting the European Union.

He said: “To pursue levelling up as a programme of interventions from the centre will be less effective and would not speak to people’s hankering to have more say over their lives.”

The former mandarin, who also served as head of the UK Governance Group and alongside then Deputy Prime Minister’s Nick Clegg during the Coalition Government, said that UK was an exception among western democracies in having its governance, economy, culture and media all dominated by its capital city.

“This is very unusual around the world to see such dominance from one city and I think it is an urgent mission in a UK context to be building up power in other parts of the country, both in the great metropolitan cities as well as the devolved nations. If that were successful we would find ourselves with a country which is more equal.”

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Writing in today’s Yorkshire Post, Mr Rycroft claims that successive Governments over decades have mishandled devolution in England despite virtually all of them having ran on a manifesto commitment to do so, and that this needed to end urgently.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was elected on a manifesto commitment to levelling up.Prime Minister Boris Johnson was elected on a manifesto commitment to levelling up.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was elected on a manifesto commitment to levelling up.

“I think we are well overdue the moment when a responsible UK Government says, ‘OK, we have been playing this way too long, we are now going to get serious about it.

‘Here is an agenda. Not everyone has to go at the same speed but this is the direction of travel and we are prepared from the centre to let go on the money and services that are better able to be run locally. And we are going to do that in a way that is responsive to people’s sense of identity.”

He added that the Covid crisis was a good example of central Government failing to work with the regions.

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“Decisions keep being announced without consulting local mayors and you have this real dissonance now,” he said.

Philip RycroftPhilip Rycroft
Philip Rycroft

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We’re levelling up and empowering all areas of the country by devolving money, resources and control away from Westminster.

“We’re making significant progress – the South Yorkshire Mayor and Combined Authority now have devolved powers and West Yorkshire is due to hold their first mayoral elections this year.

“We intend to bring forward the Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper in due course - which will build on the success of the eight Combined Authority Mayors who are driving local economic growth across their regions. We’ve also created a new £4 billion Levelling Up Fund, which will support local infrastructure and boost economic recovery.”

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