Core Cities UK meet with William Hague MP Chair of the Cabinet Committee for Devolved Powers. Image: Flickr/ BCC News Room
Following George Osborne’s announcement of a devolution package last November, Sir Richard Leese, Manchester City Council leader, is un-quietly confident of becoming the conurbation’s first Elected Mayor, in the vote scheduled for 2017. In the meantime, two local Labour stalwarts have made themselves available to occupy that role on an interim basis. Tony Lloyd, ex-MP and Manchester’s Police and Crime Commissioner, and Wigan Council Leader Peter Smith both put their names forward before nominations closed. The winner will be chosen, not by the general public, but a select ‘electoral college’ of Greater Manchester’s 10 council leaders.
What may emerge as the cornerstone – or Achilles Heel – of Manchester’s future governance is that, since the start of April, the area has had control over its combined health and social care budget, worth an estimated £6bn. Elsewhere in England, social care is handled by local authorities, while clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) deal with hospitals, community health and mental health issues, and NHS England covers primary and specialised care services. A new Greater Manchester Strategic Health and Social Care Partnership Board will take charge of all this, supported by a joint commissioning board drawn from the 10 local authorities, CCGs and NHS England. The aim is to have the new arrangements in place from April 2016.
