James Wort
Director
From better transport to locally-elected mayors, the Northern Powerhouse policy now covers a number of areas. But what is it and what will it bring to northern people?
From better transport to locally-elected mayors, the Northern Powerhouse policy now covers a number of areas. But what is it and what will it bring to northern people?
If political rhetoric is to be believed, the Northern Powerhouse is to transform the way we not only do business in the UK, but how we view the North/South divide.
The policy has been created as a way to soften the political and economic divide - if not the cultural one - between the London-centric policies of Whitehall and the oft-forgotten North.
The official government proposal for the Northern Powerhouse was initially aimed solely at improving transport links between the main cities in the North and down to the South. But since then, it has come to represent any policy aimed at Northern towns’ and cities’ economies.
But what will it actually achieve in real terms?
Transport
Transport was the central tenant of the policy. Initial plans included the £38bn upgrade and electrification of the Transpennine and Midland lines. These were ‘paused’ only to be restarted again in recent weeks.
But even with things moving again, like the trains they move slowly. The full electrification of the Midland mainline will take until 2023, while the Transpennine electrification arrives a year earlier in 2022. The end result is that some journey times will be cut by 15 minutes.
While this doesn’t seem like much, it could be enough to spark a growth in new commuter towns in the North as once out of the way centres will become reachable in faster times.
Local mayors
One of the first things that George Osborne announced for the Northern Powerhouses was that they’d have their own elected mayors. These would be chosen by the local people and have a say in a number of regional issues - from transport to housing - as well as how national policies affect the cities.
Manchester was the first to be given the power followed by Sheffield. Other northern cities are expected to follow suit.
The new mayors - who will be elected in 2017 - will also get a budget from the central government. Sheffield will be given £30m a year for 30 years. While this money is aimed at reviving local economies, some feel it is too little, too late. Places like Redcar and Teesside, where the steel industry has gone into freefall, will need more than £30m to get back on track.
Ideally, the new mayors would be able to introduce policies on housing and business that respond to regional needs and aren’t just part of a national programme.
Business rates
The Chancellor recently announced that areas with regional mayors would be given full control over their business rates.
The Government is to remove the current Uniform Business Rate by 2020 to give councils the power to adjust rates as they see fit. It will mean local councils will retain all revenue from business rates for the first time since 1990. Further details of the reforms will be announced in the forthcoming Spending Review on November 25.
While this move has been broadly welcomed, there is a concern that it could cause further divide between Northern towns and cities, with areas that have successful business centres benefiting and those with little in the way of a booming economy suffering more.
Opening times
Local mayors will also get a say over whether they want to relax trading hours on a Sunday.
In the Summer Budget, Osborne revealed plans to allow large retailers to open longer on Sundays. Currently, large stores cannot open for more than 6 hours on Sundays. Smaller retailers have more freedom. Whether or not this is introduced will be down locally-elected mayors and councils.
Some have welcomed this as a way to combat the growth in online retailing. Though small, independent stores have complained that it gives large supermarkets more help in the market.