25 February: Whitehall hands over £6bn of health and social care spending to Greater Manchester
Local politicians and officers in England were agog when, in November 2014, the chancellor George Osborne and the 10 councils that make up the Greater Manchester combined authority announced a trailblazing agreement to devolve new powers to that part of England.
This year, Greater Manchester followed that coup up on 25 February, with a truly groundbreaking deal. As Richard Vize wrote at the time: “handing Greater Manchester’s £6bn health and social care budget over to the city’s combined authority is the most exciting experiment in local government and the health service in decades – but the risks are huge.”
Ever since, other regions have scrambled to put together their own devo bids, despite a widespread fear across local government that, with no new money on the table, devo could turn out to be just another word for doing Whitehall’s dirty work on cuts.
But the power shift is real, and the year ended with further powers moving out of Whitehall: five London health devolution pilots are going ahead, involving nine London boroughs, and in the settlement for councils announced on 17 December, the government also shifted attendance allowance for over-65s, worth £5bn a year, to become the responsibility of councils, in one of the biggest reallocations of public resources in 25 years.
5 May: the general election
The Conservative majority in the general election was a bit of a shock, even to the Tories themselves.
Economists and policymakers immediately began to calculate how much the Conservatives’ manifesto pledges to cut public services might cost in jobs. The Institute for Fiscal Studies warned of potential cuts of £30bn to departmental budgets and £10bn to annual welfare spending. Reaction from those representing public services staff was immediate.
Trade unions warned that public services would be under attack. And they were right. With a majority in parliament, albeit a slim one, the government has been swift and far-reaching in implementing its vision of a smaller public sector, despite warnings that without a coherent strategy – or sound evidence – ministers were simply wielding axes, rather than cutting with clinical skill.
3 August: Mike Bracken steps down from the Government Digital Service
There were other resignations and departures this year, but this was one of the most startling for a government committed to transform public services through being smarter, cleverer – more digital.
Mike Bracken joined the government from the Guardian in 2011, brought in specifically to shake up Whitehall’s approach to IT. He made waves immediately, by setting up the Government Digital Service (GDS) as a lean, whizzy team outside Whitehall’s usual structures.
But it couldn’t stay that way. Departments have fought back to keep control of their own IT strategies. Bracken’s departure this summer, announced in a blogpost entitled Onwards!, on the GOV.uk website he created, followed by the departures of other senior staff, suggested a bit of a power struggle within Whitehall. In November though (see below), GDS got some good news, with an extra investment of £450m to create digital tax accounts.
Bracken himself is now chief digital officer at the Co-operative Group, and is also a partner in a digital consultancy providing advice to overseas governments.
25 November: spending review
When George Osborne stood up in parliament on 25 November to make his autumn statement, it was his third budget of the year, following the budget in March and a summer budget just after the general election.
Mostly, the spending review delivered what was expected: cuts to public services, with a cumulative real rate of reductions over the spending review period of 19%.
But there were some surprises. Departmental cuts were less than had been expected and there was a guarded welcome for investment in infrastructure. Police forces were delighted to hear their budgets would be protected, though home secretary Theresa May immediately warned police chiefs that they would still need to reform services. In response, police officers continue to point out that they are too-often picking up the pieces from cuts to all other public services.
5 December: Storm Desmond
Flooding and severe weather at the beginning of December brought devastation to many homes and businesses, leaving 60,000 homes without power. Public servants responded immediately, with police, firefighters and the army all at the forefront of rescue efforts. Less obvious, but just as vital were hundreds of staff in local councils involved in the longer-term recovery.
In the painful aftermath of the storm, which caused an estimated £500m of damage in Cumbria alone, many questions were raised. Environment campaigners warned, ahead of world government climate changes in Paris, that the storm was a sign of things to come, and there were warnings about the country’s preparedness for floods and the role and resources at the Environment Agency.
But one thing shone out: community spirit. Despite the floods, local people demonstrated resilience and major seasonal festivities have gone ahead. And on Boxing Day, when more severe flooding hit the north of England, public service staff were again there to deal with it and the same spirit was once again in evidence.
17 December: local government hit by cuts
On the final day of parliament before the Christmas recess, local government heard the reality of the devolution deal that has dominated the year in public services.
The communities secretary, Greg Clark, said council funding would be reduced by 6.7% between 2016 and 2020, with the bulk of the cuts frontloaded in the first two years before easing off in the last two.
Social care, street lighting and libraries are under threat. Newcastle city council leader Nick Forbes said local government would continue to bear the brunt of public sector cuts for another five years. “That means more cuts to vital public services when people need them more than ever.”
Talk to us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic and sign up for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday.
