Steve Gillingham: Minority woes are time of vopportunity for the North

HAROLD Wilson's minority government lasted seven months, Ramsay MacDonald's two minority Governments survived for 10 months and just over two years respectively, while Herbert Asquith led a minority Government for 11 months before calling another election to win a larger mandate.
Should businesses drive forward White Rose devolution?Should businesses drive forward White Rose devolution?
Should businesses drive forward White Rose devolution?

It is fair to say, minority governments in Britain typically have a short shelf life. They tend not to last because they lack the power to get legislation through Parliament and a clear electoral mandate to implement the will of the people.

Even with the £1bn DUP deal now confirmed, the Conservative Party finds itself with a slim majority, entering what is arguably one of the most politically turbulent times of our generation.

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But I believe the political challenges at a national level open a unique window of opportunity for Yorkshire’s leaders.

The Government will undoubtedly be under immense pressure over the next two years to deliver the best possible deal on our exit from the EU, above and beyond the day-to-day running of the country.

Where regional leaders can demonstrate ways to alleviate some of that pressure by delivering activity at a local level, this will surely be an attractive proposition for Ministers.

Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and the Tees Valley Mayors are in possession of the power and funding to make a significant impact at a regional level.

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With responsibilities covering areas including transport, housing, education and skills, and in some cases policing, health and social care, these Mayors have been granted the autonomy to get on with the job.

The recent National Audit Office report highlighted the combined revenue and capital budgets for the six mayoral combined authorities was £1.3bn for 2017-18 – significant levels of devolved funding that will help bring further socio-economic and environmental benefits to the regions.

For the most part, despite the lack of a Mayoral figure, Yorkshire’s secured funding from city deals, local growth deals and first wave of devolution is enabling the county to make economic progress.

In West Yorkshire and Leeds City Region, devolved funding for employment and business growth initiatives is delivering twice the impact at three times the speed of nationally equivalent programmes. Currently £180m of transport investment is approved for schemes in Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees which will undoubtedly spur further investment in these towns and cities. A clear demonstration that devolution is working.

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However, having been somewhat hamstrung by the devolution negotiations with government for almost two years, it is as much in the Government’s interest to see an end to the devolution deadlock in Yorkshire as it is for local people.

Whilst the current minority Government will be concentrating the vast majority of its focus on legislation surrounding Brexit and looking for “quick wins” across the country, now is the time for Yorkshire’s leaders to present the government with a concrete, fully rationalised proposition – developed by Yorkshire for Yorkshire – that brings about the greatest economic impact to contribute to the national purse.

And it is important for the private sector to rally behind this proposition and help shape the detail.

As the Comment Editor of The Yorkshire Post expressed last week, perhaps the time has come for business and industry professionals to seize the initiative themselves and put together a business-first framework.

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This sentiment was echoed by a panel of local authority leaders at a recent Northern Powerhouse event, where chief executives from Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Manchester stressed the importance of the business community helping to “talk up” the North – shifting stereotypes and enabling the public sector make the case to government for further investment.

I agree that the business community can and should do more to help raise the North’s voice. It is as much our responsibility to develop a compelling case for devolution and ensure this message resonates nationally.

Organisations such as the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, of which Mace is a founder member, and LEPs across the North are already doing this. But as individuals we can do more; whether it be a small manufacturing businesses in Bradford in need of enhanced connectivity to export its products around the world, Yorkshire universities looking to attract the brightest and the best talent to innovate new technologies or Transport for the North outlining its plans to increase capacity at our airports and ports – we must champion all our challenges and successes.

By doing, so we provide evidence of the immense untapped potential across Yorkshire that can be unleashed through further devolution and help create a proposition that is hard for the government to ignore.

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As a large business with more than 300 staff across the North, we want
to see Yorkshire continue its growth trajectory. That is why the team at Mace continues to support local leaders to ensure the North remains a top priority and demonstrate to this minority government that now is the time for Yorkshire to secure the devolution deal it needs and deserves.

Steve Gillingham is director of the North at construction firm Mace and sits on the board of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.