Reimagining the Local State conference: a new approach?

Yesterday we held our second Reimagining the Local State conference in the beautiful Cutler’s Hall, Sheffield. Sponsored by Sheffield City Council and Workday, the day was filled with concern over the ongoing local government financial crisis, speculation about the impending English Devolution White Paper, and a great deal of devolutionary ferment (if that's a thing).

Here are three big ideas that I took away from our day in Sheffield and what they might mean for English local government.

1. There’s appetite in local government to try, fail, and try again.

In our first panel Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council, and Jo Johnston, Head of Reform and Innovation at Manchester City Council, both reflected on the importance of “holding your nerve” — introducing an innovation and trying to create an environment where the long-term returns have time to emerge. Of course, sometimes the result might be failure. In these circumstances we need to reflect, learn and improve, as Wigan Council's Chief Executive Alison McKenzie-Folan agued in our second panel.

Making the case for this kind of innovative-yet-risky work is challenging. Politicians might find it difficult to persuade voters. Whitehall might struggle to see the argument for an approach where the evidence base takes so long to emerge. South Yorkshire's Mayor, Oliver Coppard, echoed this basic sentiment later in the day and accepted that sometimes leadership requires you to be be "unpopular".

1. Sometimes, the creative use of existing powers trumps the quest for further devolution.

This was a striking aspect of West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin’s morning session. At various points she made it clear that she did not necessarily see West Yorkshire Combined Authority as currently being best-placed to deliver employment support services in the way that several other Mayors are calling for. Instead, her talk was peppered with examples of the ‘art of the possible’: convening key players in public service areas beyond her current remit and identifying “what can I do with the powers I have”.

1. Devolution is about “rewiring the state”, politics and Whitehall.

Oliver Coppard explained that there are two main ways of thinking about devolution. Usually we think about it in terms of better, more locally attuned ways of spending money. But we should also think about it as a way of bringing policy closer to people and rebuilding public trust. Sheffield City Council Chief Executive Kate Josephs shared this view. She said that one of the reasons she would “never go back” to work in central government (following decades at the heart of Whitehall action) is the direct, immediate accountability that only becomes possible at more local scales.

Crucially, Whitehall’s behaviour also needs to shift — from the siloed working of some departments to the way it organises national missions — for the potential of local systems to be realised.