City power? Let’s just wait and see

OLDHAM Council leader Howard Sykes has given a cautious welcome to news that Manchester is to become one of the first city regions in the country.

Chancellor Alistair Darling confirmed in last week’s Budget that both Manchester and Leeds would become the newly-created authorities with additional powers over local budgets and infrastructure projects.

Members of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) met in Oldham on Friday to discuss the announcement.

Councillor Sykes said details of what this would mean for Oldham would not be clarified until July.

He said: “This is potentially good news for Oldham if we can get some more delegation to local levels, but let’s wait and see what it is first.

“If it’s just window-dressing, then it might not be such good news.

“There is no detail yet but if we can get some devolved powers then it is really good news.

“We’ll know what they are offering by the end of July.”

Lord Peter Smith, leader of the AGMA, said successful regions such as Manchester should be able to agree priorities, investment, and run programmes specific to local needs to support economic growth and regeneration.

He said: “A Greater Manchester Strategic Plan with agreed regional priorities focusing on accelerating growth will now develop with support from ministers and the Chancellor.

“Over the next few months we have a lot of work to do but we hope to get an action plan agreed so that this opportunity can be realised immediately.”

Steven Broomhead, chief executive of the North- West Regional Development Agency (NWDA), said the move was “an exciting step forward”.

He said: “We all recognise that Manchester is the economic powerhouse of our region and will be a key driver in pulling, not just the North-West, but the entire UK out of the recession.

“The NWDA has been consistently working closely with the local authorities in Manchester to ensure the best way forward and that any move to city region status happens at the right speed and at the right time.”

But he warned that the new responsibilities would bring with them the need to make tough decisions.