The emergence of City Deals could signal a new route to change in local government. They have been rolled out across the UK by successive Chancellors of the Exchequer and now every city in Scotland either has one or is working towards one.
The recent Scottish Government Enterprise and Skills Review recognized that they could have a role to play in reshaping the delivery of economic development.
For businesses involved in creating the infrastructure of a modern ‘smart’ city -including transport systems, innovation districts, housing and waste management - City Deals could generate a fresh new project pipeline. Attracting £3 billion of private investment is a stated target of the Glasgow City Deal and the business community is playing a role in helping make sure that happens.
Many of the Glasgow projects are already underway, such as the Tontine Centre for Business Incubation or the Imaging Centre of Excellence at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Next year the works to upgrade Glasgow City Centre will start, beginning with Sauchiehall Street.
But it’s not simply the projects themselves that make City Deal so interesting. One of the primary reasons why the Glasgow Economic Leadership group supported City Deal was the change it would make to the way the eight local authorities of Greater Glasgow work together.
Tackling the economic challenges of a major city can’t be done solely at the level of one local authority. Nor are they always best approached through national agencies which often see an issue only through the lens of their stated remit.
The Glasgow labour market is essentially regional. So too therefore is much of the commuter transport system. Clusters of business, like those of the Glasgow Bio-Corridor in health and life sciences, also reflect the regional labour market. Manchester is an example of a combined local authority model, with 10 councils working together through a formal structure to tackle transport, housing and economic development together.
I’ve read much in Scotland about whether we are over-centralising our governance through Holyrood, whether we should be reducing the number of local authorities, or indeed devolving decision-making to even smaller neighbourhoods. City Deals open up a regional alternative that doesn’t need to mean changing the boundaries of existing councils.
As we design the new enterprise and skills system in Scotland, perhaps this time we can decide what needs to be done at three different levels- nationally, locally and also regionally.
Stuart Patrick is chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
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