Oliver Coppard: danger of devolution agenda is mayors become all things to all people
The Labour Mayor of South Yorkshire issued a challenge to the Government “to define mayors as the growth engine of places”.
Oliver Coppard has warned that a “danger of the growing devolution agenda is mayors becoming all things to all people” with “tricky” policy areas being moved from Whitehall to the regions.
Speaking at the Good Growth Foundation’s National Growth Debate yesterday, the Labour Mayor of South Yorkshire issued a challenge to the Government “to define mayors as the growth engine of places”.
Since becoming Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly said “that those with skin in the game make the best decisions about the places they care about”.
His government has increased mayors’ powers on everything from transport to housing.
Rachel Reeves recently announced greater fiscal devolution for the regions, including the power to introduce visitor levies and the potential for regional tax collection.
However, Mr Coppard said the Government needs to be clear about what mayors can bring to Britain’s flatlining economic growth.
“South Yorkshire is a story of increasingly strong local leadership driving growth,” he said, referencing positive economic figures in Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham.
“We know what we are good at, we know what we’re for. Mayoral combined authorities are potentially the solution to the UK’s growth problem.”
He said that the “Government needs to recognise that challenge and mayors need to accept that challenge”.
But Mr Coppard warned that there was a risk of mayors being spread too thinly.
He said: “The danger of the growing devolution agenda is mayors becoming all things to all people.”
Mr Coppard said there was “a danger of anything that is tricky, anything that goes off track” being given to mayors.
He cited responsibility for cladding remediation that he said would be better delivered by central government rather than the region.
Mr Coppard said the key was for mayors to assess “what are we good at … and double down on those things”.
In South Yorkshire, he said this was advanced manufacturing anchored around the research centre.
Mr Coppard added that the Government was responsible for “setting up the system that allows growth to flourish” and mayors should be charged with “driving that growth forward sustainably”.
It comes as mayors are working with the Treasury over greater fiscal devolution to be announced at the next Budget.
In her Mais lecture last month, Ms Reeves said: “I want every part of Britain to do well.
“That’s why we’re going for growth all across the country, not just in a few places, because I want everyone to be able to succeed no matter what their parents do, where they grow up, or where they choose to settle down.”