The Global Parliament of Mayors is a governance body of, by and for mayors from all continents with a vision to the world in which mayors, their cities and networks are equal partners in building global governance for an inclusive and sustainable world.
UK the directly-elected metro mayors are responsible for setting out a strategy for growing the city region economy, and will have certain powers over issues such as housing, transport and skills. Previously the majority of these powers lay either with individual local authorities, such as most planning or local transport decisions.
Active Neighborhoods AKA Removing your ability to travel..
Why do some places not have a metro mayor?
Metro mayors have been introduced where groups of councils and the government could agree to a deal. But most of England has no similar structures, instead covered by district, county and unitary councils. This means they are missing out on powers, funding and profile that mayors can bring.
The government’s Leveling Up White Paper has proposed a devolution framework which will expand mayors further beyond city regions and reform local government with ‘county deals’. This framework devolves further powers to institutions or county councils with a directly elected mayor, and preferences full counties or Functional Economic Areas (FEAs) as the geographies over which these institutions should be established. Center for Cities has published a blog discussing the local government reforms committed to in the Leveling Up White Paper.
What can the directly-elected metro mayors do?
Exactly what the metro mayors are able to do is currently determined by the individual deals that each city-region has agreed with government. Although the Leveling Up White Paper has committed to equalizing their powers, different capacities, appetites and abilities to deliver, meant that the original deals vary in size and scope across different city regions. The majority of metro mayors have new powers over skills, housing and transport. Greater Manchester has negotiated these powers but has also agreed devolution of more powers over criminal justice and health and social care.
What roles did Metro mayors play in the Covid-19 response?
Metro mayors played a prominent role in conducting negotiations with central government on local lockdowns. Where metro mayors are in charge of local police, fire and/or transport authorities, this provided a clear formal role during the pandemic as part of Local Resilience Forums, multi-agency bodies convened across police areas to deal with civil emergencies.
Mayors have no role on public health, which is the responsibility of councils. In Greater Manchester, where health powers were devolved, this was to the Combined Authority of council leaders rather than the Mayor.
