Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, delved deeper into the White Paper on English devolution to discover a proposal which could end directly elected borough mayors in London, including Croydon
Bitten off more than he can chew: out of his depth Jason Perry could end up being a one-term mayor
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner made a speech yesterday promising devolution across England, with a mayor for every region in a major redesign of local government.
But buried in the proposals contained within the Labour government’s White Paper were a couple of paragraphs that appear to sound the death knell for the five mayors of boroughs within Greater London – and that includes Croydon and could make Jason Perry a one-term mayor.
“Mayors are the government’s strong preference,” the White Paper states at paragraph 2.2.2.
But for Tory Mayor Perry, elected in 2022 and who is pitching for another four-year term on £82,000 per year, such preference does not extend as far down as local council level in a city which has a mayor who already has strategic powers.
The White Paper, issued yesterday, says that the government will “discontinue the individual local authority devolution model in its mayoral form”.
For proposals heralded as offering more devolved powers from Whitehall, this decision appears to be, at least, contradictory, if not downright anti-democratic.
It is just four years since Croydon residents voted in a referendum in favour of switching to a mayoral system, determining that it is #ABitLessShit (© Inside Croydon 2021) than the previous, “strong leader” model.
White Paper: Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner likes mayors, just not at borough level
But what Rayner and her local government minister, Jim McMahon, mean when they express their preference for mayors is a system of city, metro and regional mayors, just as London has had at City Hall for the last quarter-century.
Merging district councils into county councils – the fate that seems to await Tandridge, Epsom and Ewell and Reigate and Banstead in Surrey – will not be a magic wand to solve the crisis in local government finances, although it will deliver some savings by streamlining the administration of a range of local services, from bin collections to adult care, from road repairs to public libraries.
Rayner’s wonks reckon the mergers will save £2billion, which really is just scratching the surface of the local government financing problem when you consider that Croydon, alone, has crushing debts of £1.5billion.
Rayner said in her speech that giving regional mayors more powers over housing, transport, education and employment would help drive economic growth.
Rayner described Britain as the “most centralised” country in Europe and pledged to end “micromanaging by central government”. The plans represent the biggest local government reorganisation for England in 50 years.
Strategic: as far as the Rayner reforms are concerned, London has a mayor in Sadiq Khan
Local government in England is covered by a patchwork of arrangements where responsibilities for local services are shared between county councils, which manage areas including social care and education, and district councils, which are responsible for services such as bin collections.
Some areas have “unitary” authorities responsible for both, while others have multi-council “combined” authorities with greater powers in areas such as transport, planning and housing. For example, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire now fall under the East Midlands Combined County Authority (snappy, eh?), and in May elected their first mayor, Labour’s Claire Ward.
But still, around half of England’s population live in an area not covered by a devolution deal.
“We must rewire England and end the hoarding in Whitehall by devolving power and money from central government to those with skin in the game,” Rayner said.
In London, there already exists a strategic tier of government, the Greater London Authority, under the city’s mayor. The London Mayor, with strategic overview of London’s planning, housing, policing and transport, already charges their own precept on Londoners’ Council Tax.
But to then have another tier of “mini-mayors”, at borough level, as Croydon and four other London councils do, “would risk the optimal delivery” of services, according to the White Paper.
The section in the proposals states:
Given Mayors are the government’s strong preference, the deepest powers will only be available at the Mayoral level and higher. Mayors should have a unique role in an institution which allows them to focus fully on their devolved responsibilities, while council leaders must continue to focus on leading their place and delivering vital services. Conflating these two responsibilities into the same individual and institution, as is the case if an individual local authority had a mayoral model of devolution, would risk the optimal delivery of both. We will therefore discontinue the individual Local Authority devolution model in its mayoral form.
It remains unclear why the White Paper should use the word “discontinue”, rather than, say, “abolish”. And it is not certain how quickly such “discontinuance” could be in place – Croydon’s Tory Mayor Perry is due to seek re-election in 2026. Inside Croydon has sought urgent clarification from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The next local council elections across London are due to take place in less than 18 months’ time. Sources suggest that that is enough time for boroughs such as Croydon, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Lewisham to unravel their mayoral election process and revert to simply electing ward councillors.
Such a move would have some helpful consequences for Labour in London, since it would immediately strip controversial Lutfur Rahman of the prestige of being Mayor of Tower Hamlets (though his Aspire Party might well win a majority of council seats).
And it could also deal with what is being described as “the Rohksana Fiaz problem” in Newham, where the first elected woman mayor is seen as being out-of-step with Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
Inside Croydon asked Mayor Perry what it feels like to be “discontinued”. For once, the council-funded rent-a-quote had nothing to say.
Read more: Croydon votes 4-to-1 in favour of having directly elected mayor
Reed more: MP Reed admits live on air: ‘I’m not anti mayoral system’
Read more: Nothing adds up as Labour plays numbers game over mayor
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