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England’s overcentralized state has already undermined the country’s ability to respond to the spread of Covid-19. Now it appears it will also undermine the economic recovery.
As the country takes its tentative first steps to return to work, all key decisions are being made by the same ministers who have overseen the disastrous response to the initial pandemic.
Faced with an unprecedented economic contraction in speed and depth, every business, from a large factory to a small store that can safely reopen, helps our chances of preventing the recession from turning into a depression.
Meanwhile, different parts of the country are dealing with Very variable hospital admission rates for Covid-19. While admissions per 100,000 residents in London were by far the worst in England a month ago, it is now the North West that has a markedly higher rate than the rest of the country. But in the southwest, the admission rate has remained low.
However, the new rules governing our lives announced by Boris Johnson on Sunday apply equally to a Cornish town and Manchester city center.
The relentless march of centralization has meant that every substantial problem in this developing economic and health catastrophe ends at a minister’s resolution desk. Providing food packages to people who are protected, how contact tracking will be managed, what schools and businesses they can open, finding the money to tackle every new difficulty – the answers to all these questions and many more are under the control of a central government overwhelmed machine.
The gigantic licensing scheme is an extreme example. Your final cost could well be about £ 100bnorthNot far from the annual NHS bill in England. But, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned, it may soon begin. damaging the economy more than protects it. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has an impossible task trying to manage this balance.
The economy could restart much more quickly and effectively if the mayors of Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Liverpool city region, or councils in the southwest or east, had the resources and powers to shape this scheme to their unique local circumstances. .
West Midlands needs manufacturing support. The east of England fears for agriculture. Along the east coast there are ports that need to get trade moving back to Europe (and prepare for Brexit). These different needs require local solutions.
Instead, they are doomed to a single response seen through the flashing lights of a distant government without the ability to understand or respond to local needs and opportunities.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has He highlighted how this central control is accelerating the northwest’s ability to control a virus and restart the economy. He is pleading with the government to prioritize his region for tracking contacts, while underlining the lack of funding for the tram system to return to capacity so that people can return to work in hopes of obeying the rules of social distancing.
The recovery plan (pdf), released this week, recognizes that government structures will need to be reformed to learn the lessons of the crisis and prepare for future epidemics. But the newsroom gives every indication that you will learn the wrong lessons.
Once again, the government ignores the vital contribution the councils have made to meet the unique circumstances of their communities and perpetuates the illusion that the pandemic “has shown many parts of the government at its best.”
The civil service has responded to the emergency with the same dedication and resolve as any other part of the public sector, but has been fatally compromised in attempting the impossible task of executing everything from Whitehall while under poor political leadership.
Failed leaders in all walks of life believe that the answer to any crisis is “more me.” If ministers learn anything from this calamity, it should be the urgent need to draw the power, capacity, and money from Westminster and Whitehall.
• Richard Vize is a public policy analyst and commentator.
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