Manchesterism could transform Britain if Burnham is willing to let go

The incoming Prime Minister has put deeper devolution front and centre of his policy agenda, promising the “biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen”.

Given that the UK has huge regional inequalities and is the most fiscally centralised country in the G7, his instincts to rip up the political system feel like the right diagnosis. But genuine fiscal devolution will be required to realise its benefits everywhere.

The Greater Manchester model has genuine achievements behind it since the combined authority was established in 2011, devolving powers on issues such as transport, skills, employment support, planning and regeneration, policing and fire services.

Burnham, the first directly elected mayor in 2015, has described Manchesterism as a “place-first approach” that facilitates collaboration between the public and private sectors, with long-term, innovative and bottom-up thinking at its core, so that economic and social progress go hand in hand.

One of the defining symbols of Manchesterism is the Bee Network, introduced after he brought the city region’s buses under public control, providing the opportunity to cap fares below national levels and remove time restrictions on free travel for older and disabled people.

Each of the 10 boroughs that comprise Greater Manchester, meanwhile, chose three priority projects for a slice of the £1bn Good Growth Fund. In a globalised world where people can feel detached from central government, devolution in this part of England has captured everyday issues that matter to people and brought tangible improvements to communities.

Meanwhile, a 2022 Health Foundation study found devolved health and care responsibilities brought small improvements in life expectancy in Greater Manchester compared with similar places in England, although researchers cautioned this wasn’t a “slam dunk” for devolution.

Sir Keir Starmer’s government has already set the wheels in motion for replicating this model across England, where 30-plus areas now either have a combined authority or are in the process of establishing one.

The via English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act introduces a process to enable the wholesale rolling out of powers included in the “trailblazer deals” signed by Greater Manchester and the West Midlands in 2023.

Burnham may be able to accelerate this trajectory but the critical test of Manchesterism will not be its rhetoric, but the fiscal reality behind it.

Questions remain about whether he is prepared to remove the ringfencing around mayoral budgets. Improving health outcomes may require early years education interventions in one region and more social housing in another, reflecting Burnham’s vision as mayor that prevention is better than cure.

Real fiscal autonomy – genuine control over taxation and revenue – holds the key to devolution delivering meaningful change. Without financial freedom, local leaders are accountable to their communities for outcomes they are not equipped to deliver.

Manchesterism must also become a UK-wide conversation to address the asymmetry between the devolved nations. Wales and Northern Ireland don’t enjoy the same degree of fiscal devolution as Scotland, and that imbalance creates real tensions in the intergovernmental landscape that no government has yet resolved. Burnham has already ruled out reforming the Barnett formula.

If Burnham wants to rewire Britain, he must be prepared to have the harder conversations, including those that go well beyond the M60.

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Laura Hughes is Partner and Head of Public Law at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson.

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