Devolution in the spirit of Magna Carta

This week the country has been celebrating the 800^th anniversary of the Magna Carta. This medieval document, an important staging post in the development of democracy in Britain and around the world, is most famous for its codification of the rights to liberty and justice. But it also represents an early act of devolution.

Agreed between King John and the barons at Runnymede in June 1215, the Magna Carta provided a new framework for the relationship between the king and his subjects. The barons had seized London, demanding greater autonomy from the monarch. The Great Charter was his response, ceding certain powers and freedoms, including over land, property and taxation, to the regions (or at least to their rulers): it limited local interference by the central state.

Today, we may not have barons, but we do still have different regions with differing characters and needs. They demand and deserve the freedoms, powers and accompanying responsibilities to organise public services in their area in the most effective way for their own people. While local and regional governments consent to being arms of the state, they need greater ability to determine their own affairs.

Subsidiarity is the principle that power, resources and responsibility should rest at the most appropriate level to address a given issue. We have made some progress in the application of this principle in the past 800 years, but there is still a way to go.

In order to spread prosperity throughout all regions of our country, we must empower our cities and regions by adopting a position of devolution by default. Unless there is clear evidence to show that a public service is best run from Whitehall, the power to run it – as well as democratic accountability for its delivery – should be devolved as close to the ground as possible.

One-size-fits-all national approaches in too many areas of public policy have failed. A housing policy for the whole of England falters when local housing markets differ so markedly. A benefit cap set at the same level throughout the country bites hard in some areas and not at all elsewhere. Employment policy to support people into work must recognise the variation in local labour markets, as the failure of the national Work Programme demonstrates.

Where devolution has occurred, for instance in London transport, it has proven a success. Other regions should now be given power over bus routes and fares and a say over local rail networks. But even in the capital devolution could and should go further, particularly in areas such as fiscal policy and skills.

In Greater Manchester, we are leading the way on devolved health and social care integration. This will put local people firmly in control of future health and care services that suit the region and are more responsive to its developing needs. With time, I hope it will also mean that hardworking homecare staff in Oldham or in Leigh are treated with the same respect as those caring for patients in hospitals.

Devolution though must be on offer to all parts of the country, be they collections of coastal towns or former industrial areas, not just a handful of major city regions with their metro-mayors. Unequal devolution runs the risk of entrenching inequality.

UKIP has latched onto many people’s alienation, born of the perception that decisions are taken at a distance by an elite far removed from ordinary people’s lives. But the answer cannot be UKIP’s narrow vision of a little England turning in on itself and indulging in simplistic, knee-jerk responses to complex challenges in our communities.

The Tories, meanwhile, dressing low politics up as high principle, are focused on exploiting further devolution in Scotland to stitch up Westminster and secure their UK majority into the future. In England, they offer a limited vision that leaves the centralised Westminster model largely intact.

Labour has an opportunity to set out a different vision for the people of England. Pushing power away from Westminster and into the hands of communities can enable people to take control of their lives and grasp new opportunities as they arise. As well as equipping communities to be less vulnerable to outside shocks, and more resilient for the future, decentralising power can be a route to fostering once again a sense of belonging and restoring local pride.

The days of Bad King John are behind us, but, through the devolution of power to the people of England, the spirit of Magna Carta can live on.

Cllr Jim McMahon is the Leader of Oldham Council and the Leader of Labour in Local Government