Is This Really A Good Idea?

[youngmafbog]

http://news.sky.com/story/1483611/radical-city-devolution-plans-to-be-unveiled

Personally I have severe doubts about it.

[VHG]

Why do you have doubts?

The UK has been too "London centric" for decades (hence the huge SNP wins for Scotland in the last election).

London is a great city, I was born there and love it, but it gets more than its fair share of funding for all sorts of things.

For example two huge train projects, Crossrail and Thameslnk, are going on in and around London, costing many billions of pounds.

Yet other train projects find it hard to get funding, or a projects like HS2 have to justify its funding where Crossrail and Thameslink cost almost as much.

[mushroom25]

probably not good examples vhg - crossrail and thameslink aren't "vanity" projects like hs2, they're must-haves, without which the tube system will grind to a standstill by 2025; this is notwithstanding the concurrent huge increase in bus usage. a city that purports to be a major international business centre cannot afford to seize up - even though the "northern powerhouse" (whatever the hell that actually is) can make a compelling case to abstract funds from the south east.

[dave50]

It will be just yet another layer of expensive bureaucracy, waste and incompetence.

[Old_Geezer]

In principle I quite like the idea of devolving power so locals can make a place as they want it. But past experiments with Mayors and suchlike show it is a bad idea which results in some annoying individual (usually a whole string of them) getting into power, inflicting their abominable hobby horse ideas on the rest of the local citizens, or worse, on those visiting, and making the place a far less pleasant place to be. Presumably with the attitude that those who have lived their for ages, maybe all their lives, can so go leave if they don't like it. Blow them, they aren't important, the authorities are. Lovely idea in theory, appalling in practice.

[Gromit]

Manchester had a vote on whether we wanted an elected Mayor or not.

We voted overwhelmingly not to have one.

So they are imposing one anyway.

[naomi24]

Gromit, according to the figures it was 46.8% yes, 53.2% no, on a 24.7% turnout, so hardly overwhelming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_mayoral_referendums,_2012

If councils wanted more control, which it appears Manchester’s did, and the criteria for that is to elect a mayor, then they have to compromise.

As the reporter here says, the deal was too good to turn down.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-29876939

[naomi24]

I’m wondering how central government decides upon the amount of money each area is allocated. Is it £x per capita?