City Regions

March 23, 2006

Ian Parker, Head of Strategic Communications, NLGN
PR Week

The New Local Government Network has recently launched a ‘City Regions Commission’. Over the next few months a panel of local government luminaries, academics and business voices will consider potential new models of local governance for the UK, based around the idea of expanded city structures. At the same time, NLGN has also published a pamphlet, by Professor Gerry Stoker, floating the idea of strategic level ‘super sized’ cities and counties. We appear to have created a bit of a stir.

Before a single meeting of the Commission has been held, a mixture of fear and excitement has spread across both local and national press. In the West Midlands, we have been accused of conspiring to eradicate the “proud history” of Wolverhampton in the name of a ‘Greater Birmingham’. The good people of Leeds meanwhile, are ecstatic at the prospect of the “Leeds Parliament” they feel could be just around the corner.

From a purely communications perspective, the level of media attention is encouraging. But the reality of the Commission’s aims is rather less dramatic. Faced with such misrepresentation it is tempting to throw out a few rebuttals.

In announcing the Commission, we did not intend to get a quick bite of press coverage, to be followed by a long period of silence before publishing the findings. On the contrary, the idea was to stimulate popular discussion and get people talking about city regions – a task that seems to have been achieved.

The Commission is a discursive exercise. Given its members, to try and control their terms of debate at this early stage would be to render the entire exercise pretty pointless! NLGN are however, hoping they consider a range of solutions to various challenges.

Among these are the potential for a level of governance at strategic level to work as a driver to local economic activity; how public services can be delivered more effectively through better co-ordinated localities; and how a more clearly defined framework can empower activity at neighbourhood level. We also hope the Commission thinks about the best ways to give a sense of purpose to the deep but often complex local identities that already exist out there – be they in or around Liverpool, Kent or Nottingham.

This debate would be nowhere near as rich if an attempt had been made to shackle some of the strong feeling aroused by the announcement. The voices raised have served only to strengthen our enthusiasm, and we hope that such heartfelt opinions are now matched in the form of a thoughtful written submission. Either way, a hare has been set running.


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