health

Mayors are not for everywhere Andy Burnham’s outrage when he appeared to learn by text that Greater Manchester wouldn’t receive the same Covid-19 support as London gave England’s directly elected mayors a new profile. Burnham is better known for being mayor of Greater Manchester than he ever was as a Labour Cabinet minister. Steve Rotherham in Liverpool, Andy Street in the West Midlands, Ben Houchen in Tees Valley, Tracey Brabin in West Yorkshire and others have carved out distinct profiles.…

Levelling Up White Paper: a response from the central South In mid-March, the Southern Policy Centre held a webinar to discuss the Government’s Levelling Up and Devolution White Paper [1]with speakers from local councils, business and national think tanks. Here SPC Director John Denham reflects on some of the challenges facing our local authorities as they respond to the White Paper. Public debate about local devolution and levelling up has inevitably been a bit muted for the past few weeks…