Ministers are drawing up plans to give mayors significant new powers over hospitals and schools as part of a new wave of devolution that could change how public services are run in England. Steve Reed, the local government secretary, wants to give mayors control over many more local services, and is weighing up handing over some NHS services and even parts of the criminal justice system.
The plans have received the backing of the Labour Together thinktank, which Reed helped found, in a report published on Monday. Government insiders say any changes could be included as amendments to the devolution bill that is going through parliament. Reed said: “Giving communities more power is why I am in politics. As a former council leader, I cut violent youth crime and improved social housing by empowering local people.”
The local government secretary is looking at ways to expand the scope of those proposals so that it unilaterally hands over significant new powers to mayors, potentially by amending the bill in the Commons. Supporters of the plans point out that if mayors could gain control over hospitals and social care, for example, they could divert NHS funding into community care schemes, saving money in the process.
Decisions over hospital funding are currently taken by NHS bodies known as integrated care boards. But the Labour Together report, which Reed has studied and partially endorsed, calls for mayors to be given the power to appoint health commissioners to take charge instead. The report also calls for mayors to be allowed to appoint commissioners to oversee other public services, including regulating academy schools and running probation services.
Putting services in the hands of mayors rather than national government would require the approval of ministers from across government, a task that has been entrusted to Josh Simons, a Cabinet Office minister and another former head of Labour Together. Simons is convening a panel of ministers from MHCLG, the health department, the education department and Downing Street to work out how to roll out greater devolution across government.
