WHO GOVERNS THE WEST MIDLANDS?
AN AUDIT OF GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS AND STRUCTURES
Sarah Ayres and Graham Pearce,
Aston Business School
Preface
This paper has been prepared by members of the West Midlands Governance Action Research Group, an independent group of academics from West Midlands universities, whose interest lies in researching and informing on current issues relating to government and governance in the region. Its main objective is to systematically map the current regional institutional arrangements in the West Midlands Region, including functional responsibilities, budgets and lines of accountability.
The researchers are grateful to the West Midlands Regional Assembly and the West Midlands Constitutional Convention for supporting their work.
Sarah Ayres and Graham Pearce
Aston Business School
Aston University
Birmingham
B4 7ET
UK
March 2002
The right of S Ayres and G Pearce to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Database right S Ayres and G Pearce 2002
Executive Summary
During the past few years there have been significant changes to the way the UK is governed. Constitutional reforms have led to the creation of devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the establishment of a strategic authority for Greater London. These developments have been accompanied by a growing interest in how resources are to be allocated territorially in the UK and the legitimacy, democratic accountability and stability of the emerging institutional structures.
The English regions may not have been in the vanguard of devolution but they have experienced rapid institutional change over recent years. But, rather than adopting a radical solution, Governments have chosen to build on existing structures of regional governance and partnership working, by:
· Strengthening the role of the Government’s Regional Offices (GORs), by bringing together the territorial activities of a range of government departments to address cross cutting policy agendas and foster new forms of co-ordination through partnerships,
· Creating Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to provide a mechanism for developing regional economic strategies and improve the effectiveness of economic governance in the regions,
· Establishing Regional Chambers and Assemblies - indirectly nominated bodies, comprising at least two thirds local authority members, the remainder coming from regional public, private and voluntary sector stakeholders - to provide a regional voice, cultivate an integrated approach to regional policy making and scrutinise the activities of the RDAs.
In the West Midlands these institutional changes have been accompanied by:
· The creation of a regional office of the West Midland Local Government Association (WMLGA) to serve and represent the interests of the authorities in the region,
· An agreement - in the form of a ‘Regional Concordat’ - between the Government’s Regional Office, the RDA, the Regional Assembly and the WMLGA which sets out the roles and relationships between these key institutions,
· The creation of the West Midlands in Europe partnership, led by the WMLGA and the RDA,
· Reforms by both the business and voluntary sectors to improve their regional representation,
· The development of a range of regional strategies, including spatial planning, economic development, transport, sustainability, innovation and culture.
The significance of these trends is the subject of intense debate. For some it marks the beginning of a shift in policy making away from Whitehall and the forging, over time, of English regional institutions vested with considerable autonomy. An alternative view is that in the absence of a genuine commitment to devolution, regional institutions may thrive, but will be hampered by lack of co-ordination, competencies and resources. Central government will continue to direct the regional agenda, through its control of resources and as the final arbiter over key policy areas. Thus, while the ‘region’ may increasingly be seen as the optimal level at which some public policies can be formulated and delivered - ‘administrative decentralisation’ - this does necessarily entail political devolution.
Less contentious, is the view that the regional institutional landscape has become far more complex. It is certainly more crowded than five years ago, with overlapping spheres of influence and functions involving different tiers of government - EU, central and local - and private and voluntary agencies. There is also the assortment of regional agencies of central government - non-departmental and local public spending bodies.
The objective of this report is to fill this gap by providing an up-to-date picture of governance in the West Midlands. It begins by examining the main features of government organisations in the region. This is followed by separate sections, which focus on the organisations involved in different policy areas. The key features of the departments, authorities and other public agencies that currently contribute to regional governance are examined, including their functions, structures, objectives, resources and how they are accountable. The intention is to capture the scale and magnitude of the region’s institutional resource base - its governance capacity. However, no attempt is made here to assess the effectiveness of these arrangements
Undertaking the audit revealed that:
· There was a shortage of accessible information regarding the activities of organisations operating in the region and how they relate to one another,
· In some cases there was a surprising lack of clarity about even the most basic forms of data about organisations and sources were fragmented and non-comparable,
· In the case of a small number of organisations there was a lack of ability and willingness to speedily provide up-to-date information.
The general findings from the audit are as follows:
· In addition to the ‘core’ government regional bodies - the Assembly, GOR, RDA, and the WMLGA - there is a wide range of public organisations responsible for setting policies and delivering services in the West Midlands,
· The organisations identified had a total annual expenditure of some £13.5bn. This figure excludes transfer payments into the region through the social security system - estimated at between £8-9bn. These findings indicate a annual level of identifiable public expenditure in the region of the order of £22-23bn,
· The major items of public expenditure in the region are associated with local government - £5.7bn, health - £4.3bn, the Government Office for the West Midlands - £0.9bn and policing - £0.7bn. The largest local authority in the region - Birmingham City Council - has an annual budget of £1.4bn,
· The majority of organisations are directly accountable to government departments, both financially and in terms of their objectives,
· Local government through elected councillors is formally responsible for about a quarter of the identified public expenditure in the region. But it has limited control over what it spends and how resources are assigned. Local government is dependent on central government for over 70% of its resources and many of the decisions about how these resources should be used are taken by government ministers and civil servants based in London or the West Midlands,
· In summary, of the overall level of identified public expenditure in the region about 90% is provided by central government,
· Central government formulates an overwhelming number of regional objectives, with responsibility for their implementation being devolved to organisations at the regional level. This raises questions about the capacity of these organisations to formulate region specific initiatives,
· The ‘jig-saw’ of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), task forces and local public spending bodies (LPSBs or ‘quangos’) are governed by people appointed by government ministers. This can be perceived as a challenge to the role of traditional, representative local government charged with delivering the majority of local services,
· There is growing recognition of the need to co-ordinate the activities of government organisations in the region, by extending involvement in the regional concordat to other organisations,
· Many organisations in the region share responsibilities for developing cross cutting policies and providing services and work - informally - with others at local, national and EU levels,
· This collaborative approach has been reflected in the participation of a wide range of regional and local organisations in the preparation of regional strategies dealing with the economy, spatial planning, environmental sustainability, transport and the EU structural funds,
· This process is likely to have encouraged organisations to develop a much greater regional perspective on issues. But, in this world of multiple accountabilities, it is not always easy to understand who is to be held to account,
· There has been an increasing acknowledgement of the need for the region to gain a higher profile in the European Union, the consequence of which has been the establishment of the West Midlands in Europe Brussels Office, supported by a range of regional partners, together with a range of ‘forums’ devoted to European working,
· There is some evidence to suggest that, initially, the main motive for strengthening the regional tier of governance was a desire to improve regional economic performance. There now appears to be a greater recognition among regional organisations of the need to adopt an approach that integrates a wider set of policies around the core principles of sustainable development.
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION 14
1. POLITICAL REPRESENTATION IN THE WEST MIDLANDS 17
1.1. Members of European Parliament 18
1.2. Members of UK Parliament 19
1.3. Local Government 21
2. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN THE REGIONS 24
2.1. Reaching Out 24
2.2. The changing role of Government Offices 24
2.3. Aims of the Regional Co-ordination Unit 25
3. THE KEY REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS 27
3.1. Advantage West Midlands 27
3.2. Government Office for the West Midlands 28
3.3. West Midlands Regional Assembly 29
3.3.1. Local authority representation on the Assembly Council 29
3.3.2. Business representation on the Assembly Council 29
3.3.2 Other social and economic partners on the Assembly Council 30
3.4. West Midlands Local Government Association 31
3.5. The WMLGA as regional planning body 32
3.6. The West Midlands Regional Concordat 33
3.6.1. Partnership arrangements 35
3.6.2. Partnership role 35
4. THE WEST MIDLANDS IN EUROPE 41
4.1. The West Midlands Single Programming Document 41
4.2. Administration process for delivery of the programme 43
4.3. The West Midlands Brussels Office 43
4.4. West Midlands representation on the Committee of the Regions 45
5. THE EMPLOYMENT AND BENEFIT SERVICES 47
5.1. Department for Work and Pensions 47
5.2. Benefits Agency 48
5.2.1. Working Age 48
5.2.2. Pensions 48
5.2.3. Families and Children 49
5.2.4 Benefits Agency Structures 49
5.3. Employment Services 49
5.3.1. Jobsbuster 50
5.3.2. Disability Service 50
5.4 Child Support Agency 51
6. EDUCATION AND TRAINING 53
6.1. Department for Education and Skills 53
6.2. The Higher Education Funding Council for England 53
6.3. West Midlands Higher Education Association 55
6.4. Association of Colleges for the West Midlands 56
6.5. Learning and Skills Councils 57
6.6. Connexions Service 59
6.7. Local Education Authorities 61
6.8. Education Action Zones 61
7. HOUSING, SAFETY AND TRANSPORT 62
7.1. Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 62
7.2. Social housing 62
7.2.1. The Housing Corporation 62
7.2.2. National Housing Federation 64
7.3. Health and Safety Executive 66
7.4. Highways Agency 68
8. ENVIRONMENT 71
8.1. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair 71
8.2. Agriculture policy 71
8.3. Countryside Agency 73
8.4. Environment Agency 74
8.5. English Nature 75
8.6. West Midlands Sustainability Forum 76
9. BUSINESS AND TRADE 78
9.1. Department of Trade and Industry 78
9.2. British Trade International 79
9.3. Trade Partners UK 79
9.4. Small Business Services 80
10. CULTURE 81
10.1. Department for Culture Media and Sport 82
10.2. West Midlands LIFE (West Midlands Cultural Consortium) 83
10.3. Sport England 84
10.4. National Lotteries Charities Board (Community Fund) 85
10.5. West Midland Arts 86
10.6. Heart of England Tourist Board 87
10.7. English Heritage 88
11. LEGAL SERVICES 89
11.1. Lord Chancellor’s Department 89
11.2. Court Service 89
11.3. Legal Services Commission 92
12. POLICE AND PRISON SERVICES 94
12.1. Home Office 94
12.2. Police Authorities 94
12.3. HM Prison Service 97
13. HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES 100
13.1. Department for Health 100
13.2. National Health Service 101
13.2.1. Proposed reforms 102
13.2.2. Strategic Health Authorities 102
13.2.3. Existing NHS Structures in the West Midlands 104
13.2.4. West Midland NHS Regional Office 104
13.2.5. Health Authorities 104
13.2.6. NHS Trusts 104
13.2.7. Primary Care Groups and Trusts 105
13.2.8. Community Health Councils 106
13.2.9. Health Action Zones 106
13.3. Social Services Inspectorate 106
14. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 108
14.1. Treasury Department 108
14.2. Inland Revenue 108
14.3. Bank of England 109
15. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PARTNERS 111
15.1. West Midland Business Policy Group 111
15.2. Regional Action West Midlands 112
15.3. Trades Union Congress 114
15.4. Commission for Racial Equality 115
15.6. Ethnic Minority and Black Action for Community Empowerment 116
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figures Page
Figure 1 Structure of Governance in the West Midlands 16
Figure 1.1. Political representation in the West Midlands 17
Figure 1.2. The UK Parliamentary system 19
Figure 2.1. The role of the Regional Co-ordination Unit 25
Figure 3.1. The key institutions participating in the regional concordat 34
Figure 4.1. Administrative arrangements for delivery of the West Midlands
Objective 2 & 3 programmes 42
Figure 5.1. Integrated benefit and employment service 47
Figure 6.1. The education system in the West Midlands 54
Figure 7.1. Housing policy in the West Midlands 65
Figure 7.2. The Health and Safety Executive in the West Midlands 67
Figure 7.3. The Highways Agency in the West Midlands 69
Figure 8.1. Environmental strategies in the West Midlands 77
Figure 9.1. Business and Trade strategies 79
Figure 10.1. The West Midland’s cultural sector 82
Figure 11.1. Legal services 90
Figure 12.1. The structure of policing 95
Figure 12.2. Police Authorities in the West Midlands 96
Figure 13.1. The Health Service and Social Services Inspectorate 101
Figure 15.1. Social and economic partners represented on the