Osborne is right (on this one issue) – Greater Manchester needs a Mayor

I don’t make a habit of praising Tory Chancellors – and there is plenty to criticise the current one for – but George Osborne’s announcement of the most radical devolution to local government we’ve seen since his idol Margaret Thatcher took it all away is to be commended.

Responsibility for transport (including bus re-regulation), more control over housing funding, greater local planning freedoms, integrating health and social care budgets, scaling up our work on public service reform and more control over the skills budget have long been on the wish list of local councillors in Greater Manchester.

I’ve been a supporter of directly elected mayors for many years and for me creating this role is the only way to ensure the newly empowered Greater Manchester Combined Authority has democratic accountability and legitimacy. Those in the Labour movement professing to be democrats but expressing concern about this position should reflect on that.

However there are legitimate concerns being expressed by councillors and MPs in Greater Manchester and other areas looking to replicate our success which need to be addressed – will there be a power grab from districts to the new mayor? What is the role of local councillors in the new governance arrangements? How do we ensure districts are properly represented and it isn’t purely seen as a Manchester mayor (or Liverpool or Newcastle or Leeds or Birmingham as is the case in the debate elsewhere)?

Firstly, I think we as Labour politicians should be arguing for power to go to the lowest possible level – so we shouldn’t support more power moving up from councils to mayors, we should instead be calling for powers to move down where possible. A classic example is planning – local councillors and communities should have much greater say over the shape of their neighbourhoods and we should have the ability to reject inappropriate development and clamp down on the legal loan sharks and betting shops which are blighting our high streets. We should commit to delivering this with our new planning freedoms.

I empathise with colleagues wondering about the role of ordinary councillors in the new structure. Leaders will make up the cabinet and hold the mayor to account – what do the rest of us do? Replicating the London model has been rejected, but we can learn from it. I’d like to see the creation of powerful new select committees at the GM level, made up of backbench councillors from all 10 authorities and with the power to call the mayor and relevant cabinet member to answer questions and the ability to sign off policy decisions and budgets. This gives ward councillors a direct line to and influence over these new levers of power and provides tiers of accountability to the public, councils via leaders and Greater Manchester’s 600+ elected councillors.

The argument about avoiding a Manchester focused system is the one I hear most often. A cabinet of all the leaders and new select committees with councillors from each authority holding the mayor to account ensure that no area is left on the margins, but we must also look at how the mayor is elected.

It would be outrageous if the Labour Party didn’t commit to a primary to select our candidate as we have done so in London. This would ensure the widest possible involvement of members and our supporters right across Greater Manchester, giving no authority area dominance and delivering the best possible candidate for the job.

Power to the lowest level, new powers of scrutiny for ward councillors and a primary to select our candidate for mayor – this is what I’ll be arguing for. I hope others will do the same.

Kevin Peel is a Labour and Co-operative Councillor on Manchester City Council