Agenda item

The LGA City Regions Board has been a sponsor of the City Growth Commission, alongside Core Cities, London Councils and the Greater London Authority with the aim of bringing prominent business and third party voices to the debate.

The Commission has been in the process of evidence-gathering, research and analysis since October 2013, holding expert seminars and roundtables, hearing from local leaders and engaging with civil servants and national party politicians and special advisors, as well as a range of organisations and institutions. Four reports have previously been released and with the final report due to be launched on 22 October.

Jim O’Neil (Chair of the Commission) and Charlotte Aldritt (Commission Secretary) set out their key findings, due to be published in METRO GROWTH:  THE UK’S ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

In Summary:

The report covers tax, spending and delivery and identities the following as key opportunities/issues:

·         Connectivity between city regions

·         Digital High Speed

·         The ageing Population

·         Skills

·         The need for integration of social and economic policy.

Members raised the following points:

·         More drilling down of the data would be welcomed;

·         There needs to be a way to take account of the impact of the resources of non-city regions such as Oxford and Cambridge universities;

·         The report may need to be updated to reflect the devolution debate although it was also recognised that this was not the only driver behind the city regions agenda;

·         It was felt that many of the freedoms could equally be offered to non-mets;

·         There was a need to engage the wider business community in this issue;

·         The absence of a City Region in the SW could be a problem;

·         Governance should reflect different socio-economic conditions/characteristics (e.g. Mayoral roles work in some areas, not others); and

·         Concern that ‘Growth’ should not be seen as the totality of the debate on City regions.

·         The combined authority model will lead to loss of powers at the local level but may be a necessary part of the journey

Action:Jim O’Neill to take account of members views in any future development of the work.