Memorandum by Our City Region Partnership
(RG 31)
INTRODUCTION
1. Our City Region partnership comprises
the seven Metropolitan Councils of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley,
Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton. It is the largest
city region and local economy outside of the South East, with
a population of 2.6 million. It contains the UK's second city
and two other major cities. It is the country's rail and motorway
hub, connecting North, South, East and West into an integrated
national economy. With facilities such as Birmingham International
Airport, the National Exhibition Centre, the International Convention
Centre, the National Indoor Arena and the Ricoh Arena in Coventry,
our City Region is a major international gateway into the UK,
and an international centre for the exchange of knowledge. Its
proximity to the South East means that it can accommodate economic
and housing growth in ways that will reduce regional imbalance
and ease the pressures on the South East.
2. Our partnership was established in 2003
as a result of the joint work between the ODPM, the Core Cities
Group and RDAs on the international competitiveness of the Core
Cities. As part of this work, the Deputy Prime Minister invited
each Core City to produce a Prospectus setting out its competitiveness
agenda. Our partnership was established to prepare the Prospectus
for our City Region.
3. Since then, we have organised a Summit
with the Rt Hon David Miliband MP in September 2005, and are currently
preparing a City Region Development Plan and considering the City
Region governance arrangements required to deliver it.
4. Our submission to the Select Committee
responds only to specific aspects of the Committee's enquiry,
and focuses particularly upon the role of city regions in building
urban and regional competitiveness and reducing regional imbalance.
5. There are strong arguments for devolving
to a more local level to respond to local needs that vary from
one area to another. The Government itself, for example, is working
towards greater flexibility for Job Centre Plus managers, and
Neighbourhood Renewal, Local Area Agreements and LEGI are all
based upon localisation principles.
6. There are, however, also issues that
need to be addressed at a higher level. Our partnership focuses
on issues at the level of the City Region, an area based upon
economic geography with shared needs and priorities.
7. Our City Region thinking reflects a number
of considerations. First, the fact that there was little interest
in the West Midlands in the idea of Elected Regional Assemblies.
Second, the vote on the North East Assembly highlighted the electorate's
concern over the creation of new government structures and perceived
additional tiers of bureaucracy. Third, the need to strengthen
democratic accountability and citizen engagement. These all point
strongly to building city region machinery upon existing structures.
WHY CITY
REGIONS?
8. Our rationale for working together as
a city region partnership is simple. Global investors and decision
makers do not recognise local authority boundaries. Their interest
is in understanding the local economy as a whole—a cluster
of mutually interdependent areas linked economically and socially
by travel to work patterns, by housing, retail and leisure markets,
and by population needs and skills. They want to know whether
this local economy possesses the infrastructure and assets that
global businesses need in order to establish themselves and grow.
9. We recognise that we are part of the
same local economy, and that the prosperity of our individual
communities is dependent upon the global competitiveness of our
area as a whole.
OUR CITY
REGION AGENDA
AND ITS
CONTRIBUTION TO
NATIONAL OBJECTIVES
10. The Government has set an ambitious
national economic agenda for improving the UK's international
competitiveness, raising productivity and reducing regional economic
imbalance. It has set an equally challenging agenda for accommodating
population and housing growth through the development of sustainable
communities.
11. The opening paragraph of our submission
shows that our City Region can make an enormous and distinctive
contribution to achieving these objectives. It has many of the
economic drivers essential for a competitive city region—a
city centre of European standing and two other major city centres,
six universities (including two first class research universities),
a range of major facilities, a wide range of housing and lifestyle
choices, and substantial brown field land to accommodate population
and housing growth in sustainable ways.
12. Equally important amongst these assets,
we have established a strong City Region partnership with a coherent
shared vision, agreement on the priorities for taking it forward,
and a commitment to working together to deliver it.
13. Our vision is that by 2030 our City
Region will be an acknowledged centre of Europe's knowledge economy,
with applied knowledge supported by world class universities,
and connected to the global economy by a first class international
airport. It will be one of the UK's key international gateways
and centres for knowledge exchange through its conference, exhibition,
culture and sporting facilities. Rail and road infrastructure
of the highest quality will enable it to fulfil its role as the
hub of the UK's communications system. Our transformation into
a knowledge and leisure economy will have created employment opportunities
at all skill levels.
14. Lifestyle will match that of the best
European city regions. Our increased productivity and wealth creation
will give our citizens a living standard comparable with the most
successful European cities. There will be a full range of housing
choices, leisure and cultural facilities to suit all tastes, and
first class public transport integrating the City Region. Our
housing strategy, linked to environmental, transport and service
improvements, will have created more balanced communities and
improved quality of life in the metropolitan core.
15. Our City Region Growth Agenda is aimed
at achieving this vision. But this Growth Agenda also reflects
our wider vision for the Midlands, which we beleive can play a
distinctive role in national strategy. Its location means that
it can link the North and South into an integrated national economy,
ease the pressures on the South East, and ensure a strong Midlands
growth agenda to complement the Communities Plan for the South
East and the Northern Way.
16. The Black Country Study will also play
a significant role in defining City Region policy. The Study sets
out a vision of how the Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall
and Wolverhampton) will look in 2033 in terms of learning and
skills development, transportation, population, the urban environment
and the economy. Its objectives will link closely with wider City
Region objectives as part of a commitment to broader regional
prosperity.
17. At the heart of the West Midlands Regional
Spatial Strategy, approved by the Deputy Prime Minister in 2004,
is the urban renaissance of the region's Major Urban Areas. For
our City Region, this means
Birmingham—strengthening its role
as the regional capital with emerging world city status;
The Black Country—accelerating
growth and economic competitiveness to transform this former 19th/20th
Century industrial powerhouse of 1 million plus people into a
21st Century knowledge driven economy, through a radical restructuring
of its land use and transportation network, transformation of
the local environment, focusing growth on its four strategic centres,
creating new residential environments and sustainable communities,
and developing Wolverhampton's capacity as a driver of growth
in the north of the City Region.
Coventry—continuing to build upon
its reputation as a forward looking city which can help create
an important growth engine for the region with links to growth
areas in the South East and East Midlands.
Solihull—continuing its strong
economic growth, realising the potential from its competitive
investment offer, and developing its role as a Gateway to the
City Region and region through Birmingham International Airport
and the NEC.
18. These aspirations are captured in our
twin track Growth Agenda:
Economic growth through enhanced competitiveness,
focusing upon strengthening the critical success factors identified
in the Professor Michael Parkinson work and in other research
considered by the Government/Core Cities/RDAs working group;
Housing and population led growth. We
believe our City Region can deliver a much greater contribution
than previously appreciated to the Sustainable Communities Plan,
thereby supporting our economic growth agenda whilst reducing
overheating and congestion in the South East.
19. Our agenda is being developed further
through projects such as the Black Country Study, Birmingham's
Housing Corridors work and the Science City initiative, and will
be brought together in the City Region Development Plan that we
are currently preparing.
THE POTENTIAL
FOR DEVOLUTION
OF POWERS
TO THE
CITY REGION
LEVEL
20. Professor Michael Parkinson's work on
competitive European cities shows that successful city regions
(a) have the powers and resources themselves to provide the infrastructure
required by a competitive city region, and (b) are supported by
national and regional programmes that are aligned behind the city
region's competitiveness strategy.
21. Our City Region's track record demonstrates
that we can use devolved powers and resources effectively. We
have shown our capacity as local authorities to modernise our
City Region, create a successful post industrial economy, and
drive our City Region's competitiveness forward. Examples include
the NEC, ICC and NIA, Birmingham International Airport, Wolverhampton
Science Park, the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, and urban renaissance
in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton city centres.
22. These examples show that we in the City
Region are best placed to know where our competitive strengths
and weaknesses lie, and what new opportunities exist.
23. Our local authority capital programmes
are small compared with those in some similar sized city regions
in Western Europe. Yet it is capital investment in particular
that will enable us to provide the infrastructure to attract investment
and workers in the knowledge economy, and make our City Region
a place where the most successful people and businesses want to
live, work and invest.
24. The progress we have made together since
2003 shows that we have the commitment and capacity to take the
City Region forward, provided we have sufficient powers and resources,
and have the support of national and regional programmes that
are explicitly aligned to our City Region Development Plan.
25. As the most significant economic driver
of the West Midlands, it is particularly important for both national
and regional objectives that all investment in our City Region
is focused in this way upon a single coherent strategy for building
our competitiveness. This will benefit not just our City Region
but a much wider part of the region—in terms of job opportunities,
markets for businesses located in other parts of the region, regional
access to high level business, financial and other services, etc.
26. This alignment of national and regional
funding streams must cover the key competitiveness issues that
we still need to address—regional airports policy, strategic
road and rail infrastructure, integrated transport within the
City Region itself, innovation strategy and the Science City initiative,
skills development, major facilities, City Region housing strategy,
etc.
27. National investment criteria—for
example on transport infrastructure and the location of public
R&D—often focus upon responding to existing demand or
centres of excellence. They fail to give sufficient weight to
the role of public investment in influencing the location of future
demand and excellence by stimulating economic growth, development
and modernisation. For example, because of demand pressures transport
spending in London is currently £667 per head, compared to
less than £300 per head in every other English region The
result is the continuous reinforcement of congestion in the South
East and regional imbalance elsewhere. Devolution of powers and
resources, and the alignment of national strategies with the strategies
of the Core City Regions, would enable us to invest to stimulate
growth and competitiveness, and reduce the competitiveness gap
with stronger regions.
28. Another weakness of the current system
is that spending in more successful regions often has a strong
capital bias, in order to provide the infrastructure needed to
support growth, whilst spending in weaker regions can be more
biased towards revenue programmes designed to deal with the consequences
of failure. Our ideas for a City Region Development Fund would
enable us to invest in future success rather than simply spend
to ameliorate past failure.
29. This City Region Development Fund would
also give us the ability to rationalise the multiplicity of existing
programmes, leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness of
delivery and the better use of resources.
30. Moreover, it is easier to engage with
partners, especially the private sector, at the city region level.
Partners often have difficulty in grasping the regional concept,
but more easily understand the importance of improving strategic
infrastructure in the urban area, and can contribute positive
and tangible ideas for improvement at this level. Devolving powers
and resources will therefore energise local partners, including
the private sector, to commit to delivery based upon a clear long
term vision and certainty of funding.
THE POTENTIAL
FOR INCREASING
ACCOUNTABILITY AND
SIMPLIFYING DECISION
MAKING
31. Devolution of powers and resources to
city regions requires in turn that city regions develop governance
arrangements that increase accountability and simplify decision
making, but also deliver effective leadership. Our ideas for the
governance of our City Region meet these criteria. They would
increase accountability by giving our political leadership greater
influence over public investment in our City Region. They would
simplify decision making by aligning all investment—by ourselves,
Government departments and national and regional agencies—behind
a single City Region Development Plan. They would provide strong
leadership through a City Region Executive Board.
32. These ideas are not yet formally agreed
by our authorities, but are a framework for further discussion
amongst ourselves, and between us and the Government. We envisage
that any agreements would be incorporated into a City Region Area
Agreement with Government. This Agreement would be ratified by
each partner authority, and be binding on our authorities for
a time scale agreed with Government. Our initial ideas are summarised
below.
33. After detailed consideration we have
concluded that an Executive Board, comprising the political Leaders
of the partner authorities, is best suited to the circumstances
of our own City Region. The Board would function with cabinet
style portfolios and responsibilities.
34. The Executive Board would be responsible
for City Region strategy concerning transport, spatial planning,
economic development, skills, housing, cultural development and
major facilities.
35. A City Region Development Plan is currently
being prepared to provide a single strategic framework for investment
by our own partnership, by Government departments, and by national
and regional agencies.
36. A substantial City Region Development
Fund would be established to deliver the Plan. We are currently
considering sources of finance, but the aim is primarily to bring
coherence to existing funding rather than to seek significant
new money.
37. The Executive Board would "hold"
the City Region Area Agreement, the City Region Development Plan,
and the City Region Development Fund.
38. Delivery would be the responsibility
of a Programme Board comprising the Chief Executives of our local
authorities and of other key spending agencies such as the RDA,
LSC and PTA. The Programme Board is currently being established.
It will have dedicated staff, and a City Region Director is currently
being recruited.
39. Government departments and national
and regional agencies: all strategies affecting our City Region,
and all investment resources within our City Region, should be
aligned with our City Region Development Plan.
40. As well as the Executive Board, we will
put in place wider partnership arrangements to ensure full engagement
with, and co-ordination of activity with, the wider regional agenda,
and to ensure open and transparent scrutiny of activity and progress.
41. A partnership will be established with
City Region Chambers of Commerce and the business community.
42. We have already successfully collaborated
on City Region transport issues. We will learn the lessons from
this, and apply them to other functions devolved to our City Region
partnership.
43. We are currently developing a partnership
arrangement with Grand Lyon/St Etienne, to learn from their experience
of the Communauté Urbaine system of city region collaboration.
THE IMPACT
OF CITY
REGIONS UPON
PERIPHERAL TOWNS
AND CITIES
44. We are currently in discussions with
the rest of the region on how our City Region relates to the wider
West Midlands. We envisage that regional institutions and the
County Councils would be represented within our structures, and
the latter are currently creating machinery to enable them to
engage with us. Whilst there remains much detail to be thought
through, we anticipate a successful outcome to this dialogue due
to the widespread acceptance within the region of the following
principles.
45. First, the region has accepted our City
Region as a valuable part of the regional landscape. We in turn
recognise the importance of our work being aligned with regional
strategies, and the need to engage with the rest of the region.
46. Second, our City Region partnership
is not intended initially to replace any existing institutions
or partnership arrangements.
47. Third, different parts of the region
will need to have different types of relationships with our partnership.
Areas adjacent to the Metropolitan County are part of our City
Region in a way that is not true of more distant areas such as
Stoke or Herefordshire. For example, Wolverhampton has a strong
relationship with neighbouring South Staffordshire boroughs and
Telford and Wrekin, with many people from outside the metropolitan
area working in, and consuming services in, Wolverhampton. This
shows the importance of maintaining links beyond the boundaries
currently defined for the City Region.
48. Fourth, Our City Region partnership
has a very specific focus—global competitiveness and economic/population
growth. It is also concerned only with issues of strategic, cross
boundary significance. The partnership does not preclude its members
from working with other authorities or partnerships when this
makes sense.
49. Fifth, the City Region is an economic
and social concept. It is not possible to identify precise physical
boundaries, though the ODPM's work on city regions and Professor
Parkinson's work for the Core Cities COMPETE project may provide
a clearer understanding of our City Region's "reach".
Nevertheless, the City Region will mean different things at different
times and for different issues, and relationships with the rest
of the region will need to be flexible to reflect this.
50. Sixth, relationships with the rest of
the region also need to take into account the Stoke City Region
initiative (which we support).
INTER REGIONAL
CO-OPERATION
AS A
WAY OF
TACKLING REGIONAL
DISPARITIES
51. We have indicated that our agenda for
our City Region is set within a wider vision for the Midlands
as a whole, including the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth
area. We see great value in collaboration across the two Midlands
regions and parts of the South East. We have begun a dialogue
with the Three Cities Partnership (Nottingham/Derby/Leicester)
and with Milton Keynes to consider further how our three urban
areas can reinforce each other as economic drivers for the Midlands
as a whole. For example, Birmingham International Airport can
become the principal international gateway for Milton Keynes if
surface access is developed further. There may also be potential
for collaboration with the City Region centred upon Bristol, and
with the areas between it and ourselves.
52. However, we do not see a need for a
comprehensive Midlands "plan". The economic reality
is that the major city regions are the main growth engines of
the Midlands, and inter regional co-operation must therefore focus
mainly upon identifying opportunities for creating synergy between
the major urban areas. For example, the Midlands regional airports
might develop complementary roles, the major Midlands city regions
could develop combined bids for major events, and they could agree
not to submit rival bids for major facilities. Whilst these decisions
might be difficult to make, it is here that inter regional collaboration
would add most value.
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