English Devolution is proving a mixed-blessing for all who cherish our nation’s historic counties. On the positive side, in 2028 the remaining 1974 “county councils” will be replaced with many small unitary councils, most of which will not conflict with historic county identities. Groups of these unitary councils will then be banded together to form Strategic Authorities, each with an elected mayor. Unfortunately, the practice of making inappropriate use of county names could continue in the naming of some of these Strategic Authorities.
The Government has just announced that the first of the Strategic Authorities will be a huge Lancashire and Yorkshire Strategic Authority. Despite the name, this authority will not cover the real Lancashire and Yorkshire, but the combined area of the present local government areas of Lancashire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire. There will also be a Mayor of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Steve Reid said: “The number one mission of this government is to relight the fire of our economy and ignite growth in every region. We are undertaking the biggest reform of local government in a generation, ending the two-tier system and replacing it with new single-tier unitary councils. Alongside this, we will establish Strategic Authorities, each of which will comprise a number of councils working together under a directly-elected mayor. Each Strategic Authority will be responsible for important Government functions – including health, education and economic development – in their region.”
He continued: “I am pleased to announce the first of these will be the Lancashire and Yorkshire Strategic Authority. This new regional body reflects our view that each Strategic Authority has to have sufficient size to reap the benefits of a devolution settlement. Bringing together Yorkshire and Lancashire is a bold scheme which will create a “northern powerhouse” capable of playing a major role in our country’s economy. We have been delighted with the support shown by local stakeholders and look forward to seeing the new authority and its mayor making a real difference to the lives of people in Lancashire and Yorkshire.”
Peter Boyce, Chairman of the Association of British Counties (ABC), said: “We have no concern with administrative areas so long as they don’t pretend to be counties, but this is a classic example of the Government cynically misappropriating historic county names to try to get the public to accept a new, contrived and potentially highly controversial administrative area.”
He continued: “To call this new Strategic Authority “Lancashire and Yorkshire” is ridiculous. It excludes the whole southern part of Lancashire, where most Lancastrians actually live, along with the Lancashire North of the Sands area. It also excludes several large areas of Yorkshire, including Sedbergh, Upper Teesdale and part of the North Riding around Middlesbrough. These two great counties, with their long histories and proud identities, deserve better than to have their names taken in vain like this.”
Clitheroe MP Jonathon Holder expressed concern about public support for the new authority: “I fully support the Government’s aim to create strong regional devolved government, but this plan to bring Lancashire and Yorkshire together is going to upset a lot of people. On either side of the Pennines, we each love our county and we love the rivalry between them. Are people going to welcome the idea of a Mayor of Lancashire and Yorkshire? The Government’s attempt to end the War of the Roses in this way may well succeed in uniting our counties – in opposition to it!”
He continued: “The approach of creating large, regional Strategic Authorities is a sensible one. But it would make a lot more sense to create a North West Strategic Authority, replacing Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Lancashire and Cumbria. This would far better match the geographical reality of our economy and provide a strong regional voice for the people of the North West. It would also much better reflect people’s sense of identity. There is already a North East Combined Authority. The people of the North West deserve parity with this.”
Announcements of further Strategic Authorities will be made over the coming months. The plans for the new Lancashire and Yorkshire Strategic Authority will now be subject to public consultation. ABC will certainly be making its views known. Make sure you do too.