Assets should stay in region

AS politicians embark upon a referendum campaign over voting reform that could increase the likelihood of coalition government in future, it is worth reflecting on why the Tories failed to win an outright majority on the back of the deepest recession in decades.

It is because insufficient voters in manufacturing and working class areas betrayed by past Conservative governments were prepared to place their trust in David Cameron last May – despite Labour’s mismanagement of the public finances.

And, while Barnsley will never be a Tory target, as the recent by-election result demonstrated, the coalition’s effectiveness in alleviating poverty and social deprivation will be measured by the impact of its policies in this former mining town – and those other communities which are over-dependent on the public sector.

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The portents are not encouraging after the Treasury blocked plans for Barnsley Council to take control of key regeneration sites in the town, and pay for these Yorkshire Forward-owned assets at a later date.

Its justification is a simple one that will attract some sympathy: reducing the deficit remains the overwhelming priority and the prompt of sale of assets owned by the moribund RDAs can only accelerate this process. Yet it is an approach that also contradicts the Government’s “localism” agenda, and its wish for local enterprise partnerships – and the much vaunted enterprise zones – to drive forward regeneration plans and become the new catalysts for growth.

It is difficult to see how the effectiveness of LEPs, with local authorities at their core, can be maximised if they have little, or no, control over land and building assets on their patch.

Either the Government backs these organisations, and gives them the power to achieve the best possible return for the Treasury and the communities in question, or Ministers outline an alternative regional growth strategy.

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What cannot continue, however, is the uncertainty and confusion which stems from policy-making on the hoof. It only adds to people’s genuine anxieties as the unemployment queue becomes even longer – and voters question whether Mr Cameron’s party has genuinely learned from past mistakes.