Tag Archives: Minister for Cities

’Unlocking growth in cities’…’Unlocking incoherence in government’

By , Tuesday, 17 January 2012, Be the first to comment

Clegg and Clark’s announcement of ‘new city deals’ in December 2011 was broadly welcomed as a positive outcome of the Core Cities Group engagement with the Localism Bill (now Act), and was presented as a radical opportunity for putting Government’s ambitions for local growth and decentralisation into practice. It provided some localism and decentralist seasonal cheer from our Minister for Cities AND Decentralisation (not forgetting ‘Big Society’ and ‘Planning Policy’) at the end of a long arduous 2011.

In the cold light of 2012, however, Government’s ‘offer’ (in ‘Unlocking Growth in Cities’) appears incoherent and incomplete. How can cities, LEPs and other local partners turn it into something that will actually do ‘what it says on the tin’?

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Party conferences: They don’t like to be beside the seaside anymore…

By , Tuesday, 13 September 2011, 1 Comment

When I was Chief Executive of EEDA, I was never sure whether my change of mood as summer moved into autumn was an onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or the expectation of attendance at Party conferences.

Whilst these events may be something of an unwelcome distraction for some delegates, they are good economic news for the cities which host them. For instance, the LibDems at Birmingham next week (17th September) are estimated to bring 8000 delegates, 1600 media and £10-£12m of visitor spend to the city. The Labour Party conference has been reputed to bring double the number of delegates and about £18m of spend; whilst the Conservatives may raise that figure to £20m.

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If a Minister for Cities is the answer, what is the question?

By , Tuesday, 2 August 2011, 2 Comments

As Greg Clark gets to grip with his new role as Minister for Cities, he will undoubtedly be seeking to identify priorities and define the focus of his brief. The government announcement itself was vague and aspirational. It positions the Minister as ‘champion’, ‘first point of contact’, in order to deliver a lot of ‘driving’ and ‘thriving’. As a Minister shared between DCLG and CBIS, a look at the two departmental business plans gives the Minister no substantial guidance as to government priorities and ‘key deliverables’. The only reference to cities in the two plans refers to DCLG’s imposition of directly elected mayors (or at least referenda) on the 12 largest cities outside London. If government, therefore, has difficulties in articulating precisely what its key goals are for UK cities, to where should the Minister look for advice and support?

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