Labour mayors back Scottish party leader Michael Marra’s devolution proposals

Labour mayors Bev Craig and Steve Rotherham have backed Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra’s proposals for greater devolution, including the transfer of more power and money from London and Edinburgh to local communities.

Greater devolution was one of the key pledges of Mr Marra’s campaign for the Scottish Labour leadership, which he won just over a week ago. He said too much power had been held in London and Edinburgh, leaving communities with less control over their daily lives.

“As Scottish Labour leader, I want to see power and money transferred into the hands of the councils, colleges and industries who know what their local economies need,” Mr Marra said. He pointed to the experience of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, saying their mayors were showing what could be achieved when decision-making was brought closer to the public.

Mr Rotherham, the Mayor of Liverpool, said the UK had been “one of the most centralised countries in the developed world”. He said Labour was changing that because places performed better when they had the power to shape their own futures.

However, Mr Rotherham said devolution should not simply mean transferring power from one capital city to another. He highlighted measures in the Liverpool City Region, including bringing trains and buses back under public control and investing in skills and infrastructure. He said Scotland’s regions should have the same opportunity to move power and resources closer to communities.

Ms Craig, who became Greater Manchester mayor after Prime Minister Andy Burnham won his Westminster seat, said the city region had demonstrated what was possible when local areas controlled their own futures.

She said Greater Manchester’s economy had grown at almost double the rate of the UK and that its powers were being used to deliver growth across the region. She cited the launch of the Bee Network after buses were brought back into public control, the creation of equal routes into careers for young people, and plans to build 50,000 social, council and genuinely affordable homes.

“With Prime Minister Andy Burnham and a UK Labour Government who are backing mayors, we’re ready to go even further,” Ms Craig said. She backed Mr Marra’s call for all of Scotland’s regions to benefit from greater local control, arguing that power and money should be placed in the hands of local people to grow their own economies.

Mr Marra said the experience of Labour-led city regions could inform efforts to build on what the Scottish Parliament had achieved in improving people’s lives. His proposals therefore focus on giving councils, colleges, industries and regions a larger role in determining local economic priorities and the use of public resources.