Full respect to George Freeman MP who is quoted as calling for a ‘messianic crusade to decentralise power’ in a Financial Times article this week.
He is right. If government wants to tackle the real issue behind the talk of ‘taking back control’ it needs to make a strong move towards decentralisation. Devolution to elected mayors is a good start. Next free up more budget so that regions and cities can invest in joined-up solutions that reduce pressure on NHS by improving quality of care.
This in turn is helped by an imaginative approach to council house building. Not just More units, but communities of flexible housing which promote independent living and neighbourhood support.
“devolution” was a great political gambit but the governance issues need to be properly worked out.
On the current approach some elements of services management may be devolved but central government departments retain the ability – and threat – to declare services to be ‘failing’ and to intervene with special measures.
If a locality creates a properly joined up system of social care, NHS services, policing etc then the Government Inspector needs to assess the integration policy and scope as well as the operation of individual units. If the mix is thought to be wrong, is it up to central government to correct it, or up to the mayor? Who says and how far does local democracy survive if there is local support for a mix and prioritisation that the government does not like?