MIPIM | Northern leaders gather to discuss devolution and regeneration
How can the private sector make the most out of devolution and how is it shaping the future of the North’s towns and cities? On the day the government announced its Planning and Infrastructure Bill, long term planning, trust, and collaboration were highlighted by speakers from the North East, Greater Manchester, and Liverpool as key to a region’s success.
Speakers at the ‘Power to the regions’ panel at InvestNewcastle’s MIPIM stand included chair Pam Smith, chief executive, Newcastle City Council; Caroline Simpson, chief executive of Greater Manchester Combined Authority; Melanie Leech, chief executive, British Property Federation; Katherine Fairclough, chief executive, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority; and Pat Ritchie, former chief executive of Newcastle City Council and current chair of the Government Property Agency.
A powerhouse of a panel in itself, when asked how devolution has influenced regeneration in the North, Caroline Simpson highlighted how the last few decades of growth in Greater Manchester has “really been driven through the devolution agenda. It’s enabled us to think at scale across the whole of our city region, as to what are the major investments, particularly around infrastructure, that are needed to enable growth.”
Pat Ritchie highlighted the “power of Mayor recognition”, a point echoed by Simpson, who noted the impact of “international recognition of Mayors, because investors recognise Mayors as people who can make things happen.”
The newly-announced Planning and Infrastructure Bill was on everyone’s minds, with Melanie Leech discussing the government’s approach to reforms so far: “I think this government is great in many ways. But we are slightly struggling with the schizophrenic nature of it, because on the one hand, look at how fast did they have moved on planning – a consultation before Christmas, and we’ve got the bill out today, with major changes to the planning system, all in the right direction, all things that we called for.
“But there’s a feeling feeling that it’s all housing driven. It’s not place driven and it’s not understanding the central role of the real estate sector in growth, because if you look at the draft industrial strategy there’s barely a mention of it. Yet, how are we going to have world class life sciences or world class class manufacturing, if they have no buildings? So, [the private sector] is feeling a bit like we’re not quite sure they’ve really understood the full nature and power of what we can deliver at a national level.
“But I don’t want that sound too down, because they are doing so many good things that will, over time, unlock the the barriers that we’ve been talking about for years. My advice would be stick with the programme, because I can see that change is coming.”
Commenting on how the private sector can best benefit from devolution, Liverpool chief executive Katherine Fairclough highlighted the need to “navigate” a relationship, saying “longer-term strategic focus that this government is moving towards, that we have already in the regions, and moving away from short-term funding cycles, will really have a long term positive benefit.”
On this topic, Simpson underlined a common theme that came from the panel: “It comes back to the same principles of deep rooted collaboration, long term partnerships, shared values. I think the scale of the opportunity is much bigger from a private investor and developer point of view, because if we have longer term financial planning decision making, that will boost and aid everybody.”
Ritchie also had timely advice, given the reforms announced today: “I would strongly suggest that private sector get heavily involved in the regional spatial strategy development, because every combined authority is going to have to produce a strategic framework for growth, and that has to be influenced and developed with the private sector, because they know what what what will be commercially viable and what will be a long-term good investment.
“And then developing vehicles. We saw the announcement for the Oxford-Cambridge corridor where there will be development corporations, public private partnerships, which are about innovation and housing – a different approach to long-term and the economy… So [the private sector should] get involved in spatial strategies and think about vehicles to deliver. That would be my advice.
“[Regional spatial strategies] will have the ability to define what would make a difference within our place. In a sense, we are at the tricky end of it. With anything new coming forward, we can be really clear about what we need to make change happen. So things like our ability to CPO land, to establish development zones, those kind of transactional opportunities will be really important to us.
“But I think having the scope to shape our spatial strategy, for us to shape the region into what will make a difference to grow our economy is what will really matter to us.”
And is there any advice from Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which had its Spatial Framework approved a year ago?
Simpson was direct in her answer: “Thanks to many, many colleagues, we did get a strategic plan over the line, but it was really, really painful. What I would hope for others is it’s not quite as drawn out.”
