Local Government Lawyer Insight July 2017 LocalGovernmentLawyer 28 specific growth agenda may in fact be a hugely positive feature as it provides EPBs with a much clearer focus. It could also be a major advantage over individual constituent member authorities who, over the years, have had to target ever scarcer resources on social provision. These social functions are vital – from safeguarding vulnerable children and adult social care, to trading standards, social housing and waste management – and all are underpinned by legal duties. However, there is no specific and express legal duty on local authorities to promote economic development. For most local authorities, if economic development has occurred it is often secondary or incidental to other multifarious social functions. The consequences can be that insufficient attention is given to local economic development and regeneration initiatives within individual authorities and across local authority regions. The establishment of a single purpose combined authority or an EPB could be really beneficial. Lessons from the past Setting up special purpose corporate bodies to perform regeneration functions is not, of course, a new idea. In the 1980s, in an effort to reverse the process of inner city decline, the then UK government set up Urban Development Corporations (‘UDCs’) to regenerate inner city areas which had large amounts of derelict and unused land by taking over planning responsibility from local councils. A total of 13 UDCs were established in England. The lifetime of projects varied from five years (Plymouth) to 17 years (London Docklands). UDCs had the power to acquire and reclaim land, convert old buildings and improve infrastructure through the investment of government money. UDCs also attracted private sector investment through offering reduced taxes and other benefits and in doing so they promoted industrial, residential and community developments along with local employment opportunities. The UDCs have been seen as largely successful ventures. There are other examples such as the City Challenge partnerships of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Slow progress If setting up such bodies is a good idea, then why have no EPBs been created to date? One reason is that the process for establishing an EPB is virtually identical to the process for establishing a combined authority. Transport too is a key aspect of many regeneration aspirations. Why (so the argument goes) would any group of authorities go to the bother of setting up a new vehicle and navigating identical processes, to end up with something that could be regarded as a half-way-house to a ‘full blown’ combined authority? Well, one answer might be that, particularly in two-tier areas, there could indeed be a real and pressing need for several diverse authorities to combine effort and resources through a single public sector entity in which they all have a stake and which is 100% focused on promoting the economy of that region for the benefit of all. To date, (if we discount Mayoral Combined Authorities which are mainly metropolitan regions) no such body exists and as Britain leaves the European Union, it will become ever more crucial for regions to have a strong local voice and to be able to make crucial decisions in a more efficient way than might currently be the case. Type of new public body Main Features Examples to date Mayoral Combined Authorities (AKA Devo-max) Can negotiate extra functions and powers. Can secure new ways of raising finances through levying precepts (additional charges) on local council tax bills, but only where the order establishing them allows them to do so. Elected mayors will be able to increase business rates by 2p in the pound if the relevant Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) agrees. ● Greater Manchester ● Liverpool City ● Sheffield City Region ● Tees Valley ● West Midlands (including Birmingham) All have core functions of economic development, regeneration and transport. The Greater Manchester CA has the widest range of functions, including health and social care, children’s services and public health. Non-Mayoral Combined Authorities All CAs will have the power to borrow money under the local government prudential borrowing regime, but the order establishing the authority must specify the purposes for which the money may be borrowed. Many devolution deals include the retention of local business rate growth above an agreed threshold. The Government is committed to passing 100% of business rates to local government by 2020. ● North-East (including Newcastle) ● West Yorkshire (including Leeds) Economic Prosperity Boards Economic development and regeneration but not transport; Other powers might be sought following changes contained in the 2016 Act None have been formally established to date by statutory order.