Torbay Weekly: What if you don't have a mayor in Burnham's Britain?

What if you don’t have a mayor? That’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot in the first weeks of Andy Burnham’s premiership. Because what runs though the endless announcements he’s made so far – be it in education or devolution – is an assumption that an area has a mayor in place, ready to implement the government’s policies.

Now that makes sense for an area like Manchester which has a robust and mature mayoral system. It also works for London and Liverpool, too. But what about Somerset, Cornwall, and Devon? Like many rural areas, we don’t have a mayor. We may have one in the future, but for the time being we don’t, so given Burnham’s political philosophy, are we on the backfoot already?

To answer that question, I want to zero in on one of the policies the government recently announced. Given my role as Schools Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, I'll focus on Burnham’s education reforms.

The Prime Minister says he wants to create a country which values “the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap”. Underpinning that rhetoric are some genuinely exciting ideas.

From September 2028, schools will have to adapt their curriculum to offer pupils technical subjects like manufacturing and AI alongside traditional core academic lessons. Under the plans, mayors and other local leaders will work collaboratively with schools, colleges and employers to shape learning so it is directly applicable to local jobs.

Essentially, it is a nationwide repeat of Burnham’s work on the Greater Manchester baccalaureate, created during his time as mayor. There is much to admire here. I have long said our current curriculum places far too much weight on academic performance, sidelining children who struggle with exams.

The consequences of this approach are clear. Alan Milburn’s eviscerating report on the so-called NEETs crisis (young people who are not in education, employment or training) spelled out how our education system labels children failures early in their life. Imagine being a ten-year-old and feeling like a failure just because you are not academic. Many of these children could be extremely skilled in other, more creative or practical areas. It is no wonder so many struggle as they grow up.

But the issue with this policy for rural areas like ours is how much hinges on the existence of a mayor. Under the plans, it is the mayor who will work with schools and local industry to create the new technical educational pathways.

As I said earlier, Devon doesn’t have a mayor, so what should we do? In response, the government would say that a strategic authority could serve this role instead. I’m really not convinced by that. To me, it reads as if they designed this policy solely for mayors and areas without mayors are just an afterthought.

I’m not alone in thinking that. Even Cornish Labour MPs are raising the alarm about other policies announced by Burnham which risk leaving rural areas behind.

The new Prime Minister might talk a good game about devolution and giving power back to communities. But he must realise that by only focusing on what worked for him as Manchester mayor, he risks entrenching urban/rural disparities.

Young people in rural and coastal communities like South Devon deserve the same opportunities as those in our biggest urban centres, yet once again it feels like they are at the back of the queue.

There should no ceiling on the ambition we have for coastal and rural Britain, and the government needs to stop designing policy as though opportunity only exists where there’s a metro mayor.