The Hertfordshire Forward conference is held annually to bring together a wide variety of partners to consider the current issues for the county and discuss ways to support the strategic partnership. It is the only pan-Hertfordshire Forum where all key statutory, voluntary and commercial interests in our county can get together and consider the issues of the day. The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Looking to the future’. Delegates were asked to work together to consider significant areas of concern on the horizon that need to be addressed to ensure Hertfordshire continues to thrive in the future. • What will Hertfordshire look like in 2050? • Are we ready for the changes that are on the horizon? • What should the partnership be working on together to respond to these changes? 1
The areas we look at included; The new Governments agenda; including the devolution agenda or a ‘new partnership between the centre and localities’ Society and community; a growing and ageing population which will increase financial pressures on health and social care Long-term economic plans; we have a high value, diverse, complex economy that is a net contributor to UK plc – we need to work hard to keep it that way Environmental issues; climate change, water resources, changing flora and fauna and landscape changes Growth and place making ; growth pressures, transport, housing, how do we get the infrastructure in place? 2
We asked delegates their views on a number of areas and we collated over 700 responses. You have the full report from the conference that was sent out with the invitation to this Assembly and available from Hertsdirect website since the end of July. However, I will run through a few of the headlines…. 3
To maintain strong, cohesive and safe communities; Delegates felt partnership working and maintaining and growing a strong voluntary sector was the answer. Cohesive communities should be encouraged through integration and mixed age communities. A preventative agenda was recommended and inequalities in health and wealth in Hertfordshire was felt to be an issue that needed to be addressed. To sustain a resilient economy ; It was felt work and skills were the most important factors to sustain a resilient economy. A need to improve transport links to make communities and work accessible was identified. There was a fear expressed of rural areas becoming isolated, and a desire for east-west transport links to be improved. Housing solutions and improved broadband were seen as necessary – full details are available in the conference report. 4
For the second part of the conference we asked…. 5
Headlines included; • Need for a county wide strategic plan – some sort of plan joining up all the local plans to form a cohesive view • Regeneration and renewing of town centres in the county and improving the transport links • Creation of a new garden city • No one preference identified for leadership • Devolution for Hertfordshire should be worked through 6
You can see from the headlines and the full report that are three recurring themes from the conference on what we in the partnership should be working on together. 7
The report was presented to the HF strategy Group in September and they were pleased to hear that the three recurring themes were progressing well. The appetite for a county-wide plan continues to be a topic of conversation for HIPP. For those of you not aware of this partnership - HIPP meets approximately six times a year and is comprised of Planning Portfolio Holders, from Hertfordshire’s District and Borough Councils and the County Council and supported by an officer group. They work to ensure more effective and collaborative strategic planning across Hertfordshire. Delegates wanted the partnership to work through the devolution agenda for Hertfordshire. As some of you will be aware we are now working through the devolution agenda in Hertfordshire and we will be going the through the details of that work with you in a little while. Partnership working is key Partnership working was seen as the only way forward with suggestions for a smaller more honed partnership, which could be described as the Hertfordshire Assembly, so the need for Hertfordshire Forward remains. 8
I will just quickly run through a few slides about devolution as today, at this Assembly, we have representatives from education, health, Youth Parliament and the voluntary and community sector as well as a number from local government. The Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, allows combined authorities with directly-elected mayors to take on redistribution of power and funding from national to local government. As part of the Spending Review 2015, the Chancellor invited places wanting to agree a devolution deal to submit formal, fiscally-neutral proposals with an agreed geography to the Treasury by 4 September 2015 - Hertfordshire did not bid at this time. Over 30 bids have been made to government for devolution and the top four: skills, transport, housing and planning, business support. There are also common topics of: public service reform, health and social care The bids came from cities and non-metropolitan areas. A number of bids have been agreed with the Greater Manchester area leading the way in securing devolution, this is widely regarded as a potential watershed deal in devolved funding arrangements. Some county areas have also sought to put forward their own vision for growth and devolution and we expect the first two tier deal to agreed soon with areas like Hampshire and Gloucester seemingly well advanced. 9
Submissions have varied considerably in terms of stages of development; some areas having come to agreement over future governance arrangements and presenting clear "asks" and "offers" to government. Others have been keen to make clear their aspirations and priority policy areas for devolution and have outlined plans for developing their submissions further to present the strongest possible business case to government. Individual plans for many areas will develop and alter as they embark upon a series on sensitive negotiations with government. 9
There are no rules, templates or deadlines, BUT: 4 September became a deadline; Next obvious pegs for announcing deals are: Spending Review (November 2015), budget (Spring 2016); First two-tier deals may well set a direction of travel (as Greater Manchester has for metropolitan areas ) including on the mayor question 10
I am here as the Chair of Hertfordshire Leaders’ Group, the group made up all eleven local authority elected leaders in the county. I want to talk to you about the progress of the devolution agenda in Hertfordshire. As you heard from Alex there was a real appetite for devolution for Hertfordshire from attendees at the Hertfordshire Forward conference this year. With this in mind discussions are underway about how this could work in our area. Today we would like to hear from you, the Assembly, your views on devolution for Hertfordshire and how this work could be progressed further. It’s important that we hear from you all as this work extends well beyond local government and all relevant organisations and agencies must be involved in the discussions. 11
What has been happening in Hertfordshire? Timeline of events; 1. Hertfordshire conference shows there is an appetite for devolution in Hertfordshire July 2015 2. Hertfordshire Leader Group discussed devolution in late July 2015 3. Workshop on devolution and collaboration in Hertfordshire held for wider partner group October 2015 There was a unanimous view that the conversation that had begun at the workshop should continue. The starting point should be to identify topics on which greater collaboration and collective action between organisations could achieve better results and outcomes for the residents, communities and businesses in Hertfordshire. The focus should be on outcomes not process, but the potential of the devolution and powers and resources to support and enable that collaboration and collective action must be explored. 12
There was also a wide consensus that: The approach must be bespoke and distinctive, reflecting the particular circumstances of Hertfordshire and the different communities and places within it; Hertfordshire should not rush to meet artificial deadlines, but once it was agreed how to proceed should proceed at a decent pace and build momentum; The approach should be “pragmatically ambitious” and should “do what we say we will do”; All relevant organisations and agencies must be involved in this work – it must extend well beyond local government; It is too early to reach any conclusions about governance, but form must follow function and the metro-mayor model is not considered to be appropriate in the Hertfordshire context. 13
Hertfordshire Leaders’ Group are meeting again in December Could have a further event and possibly some theme leads identified Devolution opportunities don’t come around that often. This could be our only chance for a long time. So if there is a possibility we can make things better for the residents we serve by taking more local control – we need to grasp it. If you have any questions about devolution please ask. If you have any comments or suggestions about devolution in Hertfordshire, please lets discuss them now. Thank you. 14
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