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Eamonn pictured with the minister for levelling up, Dehenna Davison MP

Let’s make the most of devolution

24th March 2023

Hello everyone. This week we signed the latest devolution deal which will give Greater Manchester more power than ever over its own affairs. (I’m pictured here with the minister for levelling up, Dehenna Davison MP).

Make no mistake: devolution isn’t just a piece of red tape or bureaucracy – it will have major effects on our daily lives over the years to come.

For once, the Government agrees with us. Local people are best placed to decide what is best for their areas.

This agreement represents the biggest step forward in devolution since the original deal was struck years ago. It is a recognition that power and resources are best placed as near to those to which they should be serving.

There will always be more we would like to see devolved, but there will be plenty in this deal to help us improve the lives of residents in Bury and across Greater Manchester.

Significant breakthroughs secured in the new Trailblazer Deal include:

  • the ability to create the country’s first integrated technical education city-region, so it works better for young people and employers, through a new partnership board with the Department for Education;
  • more influence on regional rail services to deliver a London-style integrated public transport system - the Bee Network - by 2030;
  • £150m of brownfield funding and powers to underpin the new Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter, raising standards in the social and private rented sectors; and
  • a single funding settlement similar to Scotland and Wales - the first time such a flexible grant has been given to an English region.

Devolution in Greater Manchester shows what can be achieved if people locally are trusted to make some of the big decisions that affect the daily lives of the 2.8 million residents and 124,000 businesses that are based here.

Everywhere I go, businesses tell me that they are short of skilled labour. People wonder why we don’t have an education system that values technical qualifications as highly as academic ones. Why we don’t have a properly functioning public transport system, like they do in London.

Our devolution deal will make a difference to all these and more - because we will be the only part of England with the ability to make those changes.

On another matter. Due to the rules about publicity before council elections, this will be my last blog until after the 4th May poll. Whatever your politics, can I urge you to use your vote - and remember to take photo ID if you’re voting in person at a polling station.