Gove: More devolution will let North ‘truly take back control’

The North of England has been boosted with the beginning of the biggest transfer of power and resources to the region in living memory, according to the Levelling Up Secretary.

Michael Gove told business, political and civic leaders at the annual Convention of the North that Friday’s gathering in Leeds was he believed “the day that the North truly takes back control”.

Speaking at the city’s New Dock Hall, next to the Royal Armouries Museum, he told the audience: “The theology is devolution. The reality is improved lives for all.”

He said: “Today at this convention together we inaugurate the biggest transfer of power and resources to the North in living memory.

“Together we are bringing about a power surge for the North.

“We have already agreed deals with the mayors of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester to give them greater power over skills, transport and housing so the opportunity to get on, access to the best jobs and a safe, warm, decent home of your own are now within the reach of many more.

“Today we are extending these same opportunities to West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the Liverpool City Region.

“In technical terms that means Level 4 devolution; in real terms it means more money and a bigger capacity to make a difference for Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire mayor), Oliver Coppard (South Yorkshire mayor) and Steve Rotheram (Liverpool City Region mayor).

“By giving local politicians more power with greater accountability, local people can then enjoy better jobs, higher wages, quicker journeys to work, more opportunities to learn, more attractive homes and an enhanced environment around them.”

Mr Gove said he also wanted to take forward devolution to “many more areas across the country, with the North leading the way” and that he wanted to conclude a similar Level 4 deal with the “great Ben Houchen (Mayor of the Tees Valley), the one-man Northern Powerhouse who has done so much to bring investment and hope to the Tees Valley”.

He added: “We now have 19 devolution deals either established or in implementation, covering over 33 million people.

“This is the most profound change to the way that England has been governed in generations.

“It is a vote of confidence in local democracy and in particular a vote of confidence in northern leadership. We together are levelling up the North by giving power to its people.

“The reason why I’m so committed to levelling up is because I came into politics to tackle equality, to give a stronger voice to those who had been cut out of the elite conversation, to uphold the principle that everyone is of equal worth and no one should be held back because of their background, their birthplace or their beliefs.”

When asked in a question and answer session why his announcement came in the “dying throes of Parliament”, Mr Gove said:

“One of the great things about the Convention of the North, I think, is it has succeeded in generating a broad cross-party consensus on the importance of devolution, the importance of closing regional divides, the importance of addressing economic equality.

“So my friend Boris Johnson, I don’t know if he is going to be the most popular person in this room if I name drop, but nevertheless Boris put levelling up at the heart of what the Conservative Party has been doing since 2019 and only recently, this week, I was on a panel with Ed Balls and there was a broad shared consensus about what we need to do.

“So I am confident the Conservatives will win the next election but I am also confident that whatever the composition the Parliament in years to come this is an agenda that will carry on.

“It has its roots in its origin, of course, in work that has been done preceding 2010 but I think it really had additional momentum because of what (former chancellor) George Osborne inaugurated and what has been carried out by successive Conservative ministers.”

He went on: “Everyone has got religion on levelling up across Whitehall now.

“George was the chancellor who drove this change and Jeremy (Hunt) is the person now who has enabled me to make some of the announcements I have made today, and you will be seeing more about levelling up when he delivers the budget next week.”

Asked about Mr Gove’s speech, Mr Rotheram said: “It’s almost like a road to Damascus conversion from Michael. He now is very very supportive of what we are trying to do at local levels.

“He genuinely believes in devolution, it’s not like an act with him, he has talked about being evangelical and almost a zealot about devolution.

“That can bode well for us because he is somebody who can run a department and he has demonstrated that sort of emphasis on delivery is really important.”

But Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: “It went so far but not far enough. If everyone is agreed that this is the direction of travel, and devolution is irreversible then make sure it’s built on the strongest possible foundations.

“There is now an emergency in the funding of local government across England. It is a crisis and needs to be addressed because what the Government might point to as an achievement – and it is an achievement – the extension of the devolution in England is actually at increasing risk from the fragmentation of the local government base.”

Mr Coppard said: “I think the most interesting thing in a way was not what was said today.

“What wasn’t said about local government finance, what wasn’t said about HS2, what wasn’t said about buses for South Yorkshire.

“Until and unless local public transport and local government finance is sorted the work we are doing is never going to be enough.”