Andy Burnham’s localism offers Wales a chance to do devolution differently
Huw Thomas, Labour MS for Caerdydd Penarth
A visit to the People’s History Museum, where Andy Burnham spoke about the need to drive growth in every postcode by moving power from Whitehall back to communities, reveals much that charts the history of the Welsh Labour movement.
As a proud new Member of the Senedd and Welsh Labour spokesperson for finance, and, until recently, leader of Cardiff Council, I recognised much in Andy’s speech about how the British state needs to change.
His language, and the setting, spoke clearly of his desire for people and places to drive the country forward and, as he put it, to deliver “growth in every postcode.”
Nothing would be more positive for the public finances than recapturing the levels of growth this country saw before the financial crash and the disastrous years of Tory austerity that followed.
For me, the desire to improve people’s lives has always been the motivation for being in politics, and it was good to hear a speech so firmly rooted in that aim.
Whether it was his references to people being able to afford holidays and nights out, or the need to support working-class children whatever path they choose into work, it was clear that Andy was speaking for the people of Cardiff, Aberystwyth and Rhyl just as much as for those in Makerfield. Putting place above party is a direct challenge to all of us.
During my time as leader of Cardiff Council, working with councils across the city region, it is an approach I always took. I hope the newly elected Plaid Cymru government will respond in the same spirit.
The opportunity to work with someone motivated by what works, rather than by political affiliation, is not something I suspect comes naturally to them, but it is clear to me that it is what Wales needs.
The part of the speech that stood out most to me was Andy’s passion for council housing. The housing crisis has been a significant drag on public finances and has damaged lives in Wales, just as it has elsewhere.
Council housing
As a council leader who successfully made it a priority to build council housing at pace, I welcomed Andy’s commitment. His analysis was refreshing: local government has long understood that cuts to Local Housing Allowance have driven evictions from the private rented sector, shifting costs onto councils, and ballooning the waiting lists for social housing.
Temporary housing is incredibly expensive and often unsuitable. Government investment to build more Council homes – especially when combined with the suspension of Right to Buy as enacted by Welsh Labour – would create long-term assets, and rebalance the current situation where over £10 billion pounds of benefits flow annually to private landlords.
When you add the cost of temporary housing to the wider impact on other services, schools, social services and health, the financial, as well as the moral, case for building more council homes becomes undeniable.
Stable housing gives people the foundation they need to build their lives. Andy’s articulation of this was the first time I’ve heard a Westminster politician express it in a way that clearly reflects the lived reality of local government. It demonstrated that he is not someone shaped by the Whitehall machine but someone forged at the sharp end of the housing crisis.
More powers
As part of his plans to take power from Whitehall, I welcome his proposals to extend more powers to Wales. This cannot be simply concentrating more powers in Cardiff Bay however. It’s about giving local decision-makers the tools they need to respond to local circumstances. It’s about giving city-regions like Cardiff and Swansea – and indeed, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast – equal footing with their English city-region counterparts, so that entrepreneurial, accountable, local government can drive economic growth. Such changes should be seen as strengthening, not weakening, devolution.
More than anything else, what struck me was that in Andy we have a politician at ease with himself, grounded in his mission, and closely connected to the people he wants to serve.
That is something working in local government gives you, a closeness to the challenges of people’s day-to-day lives that can sometimes be lost in the countless offices of Whitehall departments or the corridors of the Welsh Government in Cathays Park.
I welcome this injection of localism into our politics and look forward to what comes next.
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For Cymru this looks very like Labour planning to bypass the Senedd where they are not in power in order to shore up support for themselves in lower tiers of government
Manchester and Cymru have similar populations but I doubt the same Burnham localism will apply within that unit.
Unless perhaps a Reform candidate becomes mayor.
Huw Thomas needs reminding of a few facts. The Senedd has been established via two referendums and many elections. Burnham has won his seat as an MP. Labour just suffered an electoral beating in Wales. And you want to impose a political devolution on our nation with no mandate or engagement? This is all about Labour central control. How dare you talk of devolution when your Unionism reeks of Anglo-British Imperialism. You want devolution? Democratic Statehood and EU membership for Wales it is then?
The problem with devolution in Wales is that it stops in Cardiff. It mirrors the rift between Westminster and the rest of Britain.
Burnham’s city model does not bode well for rural Wales.
Sadly that was the result of 27 years of Welsh Labour rule. I’m positive that all parts of Wales will benefit under a Plaid Cymru Welsh Government, not just those who reside in CF10.
Weve had loads of empty promises and idle threats over the past few decades, but all thats followed for us in Cymru is betrayal of the highest order and complete failure.
Westminster isnt working, the “union” isnt working and labours ideals are consigned to the history books.
The appettite for independence is here to stay, so unless labour can actually pay attention to this and act accordingly, theyre gone completely. And good riddance I say.
A reminder that centralised power in Wales is the result of 27 years of Welsh Labour in government.
It is a perfectly fine line of argument and labour in Wales should make it part of their prospectus if they really believe in it.
But what should be the rather obvious point is that it is for the devolved government to determine where responsibility sits for matters than have been devolved to it and not have that decision (ironically in this case) imposed by Whitehall.
We’ve already seen Cardiff Bay lead the way in boosting local government’s power to deliver for their communities with more local control over second homes, the visitor levy and twenty. The varying ways councils responded to these new powers revealed just how unused to tailoring governance to meet the needs of their communities they’ve become since being turned by Thatcher into agents of central government. There’s no reason why Cardiff Bay shouldn’t embrace this continued reversal of Thatcherism. The “red flag” for bypassing Cardiff Bay is if ongoing day-to-day funding for localism passes straight from Whitehall to councils. Giving away… Read more »
It hasn’t led anything. It hasn’t achieved anything in 25 years.
An irrational response. Before anything can be improved it’s necessary to have a frank and honest debate about what works and what doesn’t. By closing down the debate you are contributing to maintaining the status quo, and squandering the opportunity to do better. The only real explanation for this contribution is that you have a cushy job doing little that might disappear if devolved government is further empowered to deliver even more for the people.
The floor is yours. What has it achieved in 25 years?
Child poverty now the same as England. Unemployment rate is now lower than England. GDP per capita is higher than North East England as three examples. Under Whitehall control Wales would’ve carried on doing its noble job of being the worst so the north of England doesn’t notice the south has all the jobs and opportunity.
Superb. GDP per capita better than just one English region. Wow, we are soaring. Child poverty and unemployment just a bit less bad. Oh my. 25 years.
Actually that view ignores the likelihood that continued Whitehall control would’ve allowed the decline to accelerate relative to London. So instead of moderately better it would’ve been substantially worse. And that’s justification enough for devolution. Now it’s time to take it to the next level with real fiscal controls. Let’s start with control of corporation tax and align it with Ireland.
No excuse for 25 years of nothing.
At least you didn’t oppose devolution of corporation tax. That’s something I suppose.
Knowing the, WG they’d raise it…
Your party has damaged Cymru to the most appalling extent and yet you still have the bare faced cheek to stand up for them. Labour have turned nearly as bigger traitors to Cymru than Reform supporters, not once have we been stood up for properly, we haven’t even had our most basic requests listened to or engaged with. Cymru is done with labour for the foreseeable future, and I for one am glad that they’ve disappeared into the dustbin of Welsh politics along with the Tories. Unionist parties are going to need something impressive to bring to the table to… Read more »
Well said.
Andy Burnham’s latest buzzword appears to be “localism” — that is, devolving power down to the grassroots. However, in Wales, we are already familiar with so-called localism, having seen the last Conservative government bypass the Senedd, as has the soon-to-be former Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
If Burnham’s genuine in his ambition to devolve power outwards and downwards, then by all means devolve powers to the English regions. However, the devolved nations should retain the right to decide which powers are devolved, and to whom, rather than being subject to proxy rule from Whitehall via the backdoor.
There is a growing gap in democracy in Wales. Unelected Corporate Joint Committees spanning several local authorities (like Cardiff Capital Region, covering nearly half the population) are acquiring more power on matters like strategic planning and transport without the mechanisms for accountability that exist for local authorities or Senedd. Will the new Welsh Government address this?
Deeply ironic this, coming from a man who oversaw the centralisation of Wales in Cardiff, and who once said that the capital deserves the majority of funding in Wales and the ‘commentariat’ in the West and North should put up with it.
Despite all his time as Cardiff Mayor how is it that this is the first I’ve really heard from Huw Thomas? The irony in it being a piece on his support of localism which would effectively give more decision making powers to councils where there is even less accountability or transparency than parliament is not lost on me. Not against devolving powers but in Cardiff there is a complete lack of accountability, transparency or democratic process at Council level. Yes in theory councillors are elected but they’re only elected off the back of the party they are affiliated with rather… Read more »
He’s a unionist, from a unionist party, and has already said that he would oppose a Scottish referendum on independence. So by reason he also wants to keep Wales as an English colony, and continue to prop up an extractive economy that keeps us dependent and poor, begging for crumbs from Westminster.
Ah yes, localism where the council makes decisions that benefit all local people. Is that just like when Cardiff Council led by Huw Thomas decided to build a 16,500 capacity arena 35 meters (that is literally the distance from the nearest block of flats to the new arena) from peoples homes? Don’t worry about the noise and impact on the lives of people who live there and make the area what it is, Huw, just think about the economic growth! And don’t worry about residents feedback, you can just ignore it and let the developers do the absolute bare minimum… Read more »
Some sensible words Huw, but your preference for City regions has no place in Wales UNLESS it is matched with effective development that reverses the spite-filled Tory demolition of the Welsh counties in 1996 and restores a local government framework that works for Wales. Thus a Cardiff and Swansea region would be matched by a Wrexham-led NE Wales Region, a resurgent Gwent, a new Gwynedd/ Môn region a Powys/Midwales region and a Dyfed/ Debeubarth region. Cut out the ineffective and expensive 22 with their vanity projects and provide an EFFECTIVE local framework
‘Putting place above party’ nice words Huw. It’s a shame the Labour party in Cymru hasn’t followed your mantra in the Valleys for the last 100 years. The Labour party in Wales have been found out at last. The party’s sycophantic relationship with Westminster has become more and more apparent in recent years. Please leave us alone to go our own way Huw, please support Welsh independence or move to Westminster and ply your trade there, we’ve had enough!