Podcasts, devolution and spending reviews.

I love listening to podcasts as I walk my dog Chester and I’m an avid listener to the political ones so I was delighted this afternoon when I saw a surprise additional episode of Electoral Dysfunction appear on my screen as I got ready for my afternoon walk. Even better it was with Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, one week ahead of the Spending Review. As Cumbria is currently working its way towards devolution I’m always fascinated by what’s happened in other areas and how devolution has worked.

Andy Burnham feels like a very authentic communicator, which can seem like a rare thing in politics nowadays so I listened with great interest. I’ll not spoil the podcast if you want to listen to it but one thing he mentions a number of times is the data covering 10 years that Greater Manchester now has to back up a growth story to Westminster and the Treasury. Greater Manchester’s average growth rate of 2.8% has surpassed that of London (1.1%) and the UK (1.3%) since 2015. As I listened to Beth Rigby push him on what he expects from the spending review I kept thinking how far behind the curve it feels like we are here in Cumbria.

Mayors from other regions in the North have been having talks with Number 10 and the Treasury to put the case for their area, backed up with years of data, to say if you devolve budget to us we can deliver the growth you keep talking about. While our councils are also talking to them we’ve just come through a period of local government reorganisation establishing two councils so haven’t even had time to get any data showing if that has impacted positively or negatively on our area. On top of that there are now meetings the government has with Mayors where areas like ours, who haven’t yet made the change, aren’t present. If you’re not even in the room, never mind at the table, how do you make your case for money to drive change and growth in your area?

When I talk to our members they believe, as I do, that having a single voice for Cumbria in those meetings will drive change but we also know that the Mayor will have to work apolitically with the councils in the area, something we see with many of the existing mayors. Hopefully they will also be able to learn from the other Mayors because they’ll need to catch up quickly.

Even if they do though the impending spending review covers 3 years, until the next election. This gives certainty for important sectors in Cumbria such as Nuclear and Defence but also means that the Mayor won’t be able to influence a spending review until 2027. Thankfully they will be given an additional budget on top of monies the councils receive but I can’t help feeling we’re once again on the back foot here in Cumbria.

Our councils will be voting later this year to confirm if we should have a Mayoral election and if they do that will take place in May 2026. Listening to the podcast this afternoon emphasised to me more and more how important that election will be. In a world where people feel disillusioned by politics and voting attendance has been dropping lower and lower it’s important that we, as the population of the area, really engage with that election. We need to choose someone who can work with government and show them what we, in Cumbria, can achieve given the opportunity.

If you’re a fellow podcast listener I’ve spoken on a couple of podcasts recently, I’d love you to have a listen and let me know your thoughts:

Chatterjack: a podcast to help young people understand the world of careers so please share with the young people in your life (and listen yourself too!

Northern Lights: a podcast by Business Crack for Cumbria’s Business Community.