Business urges more economic development powers for councils
Author: Mark Smulian, Local Government Chronicle - Jan 16, 2012
Business leaders have challenged local government’s commitment to investment and compared it poorly to civic leadership in the rest of Europe, LGA chair Sir Merrick Cockell has said.
Speaking at a conference on delivering local growth on Monday, Sir Merrick (Con) said the issue had been raised in a series of LGA-sponsored ‘town hall’ meetings between councils and the business sector.
A debate would be held in March with Commonwealth and European mayors “to see how we compare in the drive for attract foreign investment and to support our exporters particularly in the high-growth economies of China, India and Brazil”.
He said these meetings had also seen business challenge local government “to deepen the ‘ask’ for devolution from Whitehall [and] to be even bolder on devolution and challenge conventional wisdom about the balance of decision making on economic policy”.
Business figures in particular urged councils to localise “highly centralised Department for Work & Pensions programmes, so that it is responsive to local labour market conditions”.
Sir Merrick said the meetings had heard that other EU countries “actively managed” the links between transport and jobs growth and said this was “an agenda that needs more active thought in England.”
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