A Metro Mayor - A political and economic question for Wirral

By Phil Davies, Wirral Council leader

Last week George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, flew into Manchester, announced his plan to devolve more power to the North, and flew out again.

Much like his election campaign promises on the tunnel tolls, he was strong on headlines but short on substance.

But the Chancellor was clear on one point: His promise of greater decision-making in the North - something all parties and politicians say they support - comes with a condition - you must have a directly elected Metro-Mayor.

The implications of this for residents of Wirral, and other metropolitan boroughs, are numerous. They are both political and economic.

Over the coming weeks and months the case for and against his plan must be made.

Questions must be answered: What powers will shift from Whitehall to Merseyside?

How will the Metro Mayor impact on our ability to provide day-to-day services like children's centres, elderly care, planning and traffic programmes?

How does the accountability residents currently enjoy with local councillors and town halls change? What are the long term plans for Northern assemblies and English parliaments like those in Scotland and Wales?

As leader of Wirral Council and chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority - the five Merseyside boroughs plus Halton - I am not keen on the idea of a Metro Mayor on the grounds that it places too much power in the hands of a single person.

However, if there is no other way of securing meaningful devolution from Whitehall to Merseyside then I believe the people should decide.

That means a referendum.

George Osborne points to the Greater Manchester experience as his preferred model. But that model may not work everywhere.

It is true our city region often looks to Liverpool for sporting, cultural and historical identities. But we also look to Widnes, Seaforth Docks, Halewood, even Manchester and Chester for work and commercial opportunities.

The towns of Southport and St Helens are as individual as Wallasey and Widnes and the introduction of a Metro Mayor system shouldn't seek to undermine those identities or the reason people feel a kinship with their community.

The devolution of power to the regions is something we welcome. Greater decision-making powers in our own communities and greater accountability for "what happens here" is a democratic idea we all support.

I do not expect overwhelming support for a Liverpool City Region from people living across all six boroughs, even if more local powers are attractive. So surely the benefits of devolution should be available to us irrespective of which model we choose.

The timing of how we achieve this will depend on the Chancellor answering some key questions. How soon we obtain clarity about which powers the government will devolve to a Metro-Mayor and whether they are significant enough to merit change in such a fundamental way will influence whether people support the idea or not.

The Chancellor needs to answer those questions immediately.

George Osborne made it very clear, Metro Mayor is the only offer on the table - "take it or leave it."

But the question is: At what price?