精东影视

Decision-making in combined authorities must improve if they are to take on the wider planning role proposed by new legislation, the Institute for Government (IfG) has warned.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, published this week, would introduce a duty for combined authorities 鈥� and in some places groups of councils 鈥� to prepare spatial development strategies.

But according to the IfG, the move will not result in better decision making unless capacity and accountability in regional bodies are strengthened.

The think tank says progress on major regional plans for development are often slowed or stopped by the requirement of unanimous or near-unanimous agreement between constituent councils.

In a report published today, the IfG welcomed the government鈥檚 plan to introduce its recommendation of simple majority voting in combined authorities but warned that the full benefits of streamlined decision making would only be felt with wider reform.

Report author and IfG senior researcher Rebecca McKee said: 鈥淭he government has ambitious plans for MCAs to support the growth mission, including a universal system of strategic planning, outlined in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill this week.  

鈥淐hanges to voting requirements for key strategic decisions in MCAs to remove the veto power of individual constituent councils will enable faster progress on key regional policies and projects. 

鈥淏ut faster decision-making doesn鈥檛 automatically mean better decision-making. A broader package of support for capacity and accountability needs to be implemented simultaneously to ensure effective decision-making and better policy outcomes.鈥�

It suggested government commit to double the mayoral capacity fund, which is currently valued at 拢1m per mayoral combined authority, support two-way secondments between bodies, and bring forward plans to establish devolved public accounts committees for existing authorities.

IfG also recommended that combined authorities conduct a strategic review of staffing and explore ways to share staff with their local authorities, and that mayoral combined authorities embed participatory processes with members of the public to inform policy making and support scrutiny.