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Public back more devolution to cities in new poll

Eight in ten people back more devolution to English cities, according to a new survey.

The poll for Centre for Cities’ by Savanta ComRes shows 83% people in city-regions going to the polls on 6 May support some form of greater devolution.

The provision of affordable housing (51%), supporting businesses (47%) and providing access to skills and training (39%) the most common areas that people want to see devolved to local politicians.

The polling was commissioned to understand the impact of devolution and the offices of mayor in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Greater London, Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, Tees Valley, the West Midlands, the West of England and West Yorkshire.

Support for greater devolution rises as high as 87% in the Conservative-held Tees Valley city-region.
In London and Greater Manchester, 85% of people support it.

Centre for Cities said this overwhelming support to move power out of Whitehall should encourage the government to publish its delayed white paper on devolution in England and include substantial reforms to the way England is governed.

But with just four weeks to go until polling day, 74% of voters on average in the eight cities polled were aware that their city had a metro-mayor (or that one is to be elected for the first time, in West Yorkshire).

However, one in five people (20%) are unaware that their city is led by / about to elect a metro-mayor.

In West Yorkshire, which will choose its first metro-mayor on 6 May, less than half of people (44%) are aware of the election.

These results suggest that the government must do more work to promote better understanding of recent reforms that introduced metro-mayors.

hen asked to name their current mayor (or one of the candidates in the case of West Yorkshire) 33% of people across the cities give a correct answer.

‘People in England’s largest city regions overwhelmingly support shifting power out of Whitehall and down to their communities. Devolving more responsibility for providing affordable housing, supporting businesses and running adult education schemes are all popular with the public,’ said Centre for Cities chief executive, Andrew Carter.

‘At the 2019 election, the government backed the principle of more devolution in England yet, more than a year later, we are still waiting to see what its plans are.

‘As places look to recover from the pandemic, it is vital that the government listens to demands for more devolution and gives mayors and other local leaders the powers and resources to build back better. People want Whitehall to do less, it’s time for it to listen.’

Photo Credit – Pixabay

Jamie Hailstone
Senior reporter - NewStart

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