Embedding meaningful participation through devolution

This article was originally published in The MJ.
Devolution should move beyond technocratic functionality and put meaningful participation at the heart of decision-making, says Jessica Studdert.
The new Government signalled early and clearly that it means business on devolution. A warm reception for mayors at No10 in the first days of office and an intention to ‘complete the map’ assuaged any doubt that devolution might not withstand a change in national administration.
Mayoral combined authorities have been remarkably unthought through
For a whole new sub-regional tier, mayoral combined authorities have been remarkably unthought through. It is convenient for the centre to have a single accountable individual to deal with.
Whitehall departments must have a body to receive the functions they see fit to delegate. The councils comprising the combined authority need a voice. And so here we are – they are the sum of their often competing parts.
Absent so far has been wider consideration of the role of scale for impact in policy-making and delivery at what level national, regional, local or hyperlocal policy should best be devised – across all policy areas – including economic development, health, education and more.
Attention on devolution has focused on zero-sum negotiations between tiers, rather than respecting the value of each scale.
As a result, the landscape is complex: the NHS has its own definitions of ‘system’ ‘place’ and ‘neighbourhood’, misaligned with democratic geographies. Attention on devolution has focused on zero-sum negotiations between tiers, rather than respecting the value of each scale. The opportunity for devolution to create new institutional norms that open out institutional decision-making to people, from the regional through to the hyperlocal level, has not yet been grasped.
With a tight fiscal backdrop and amid increasingly polarised communities, devolution should move beyond technocratic functionality and embed meaningful participation and dialogue in decision-making.
Photo credit: ‘10 Downing Street’ by Number 10 on Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
