Your say / Politics
Why risk an unaccountable metro mayor?
Everyone knows two things about the disaster that was Railtrack: their slowness with repairs led to the Hatfield Rail Crash and they were subsequently nationalised by New Labour. But there’s a rather astonishing third tidbit.
Railtrack agreed to modernise the West Coast Main Line between London and Glasgow for £2.5bn. It ended up costing six times as much: £14.5bn. Network Rail never recovered from the debt incurred.
Transport planning is difficult. The metro mayor will also be responsible for adult education and implementing the national work and health programme. They will also have influence over house building.
is needed now More than ever
Now you may or may not have faith in the electorate since Friday morning. Bear in mind the effort put into researching metro mayor candidates is likely to be a lot lower. What happens if the new metro mayor messes up?
Can we really expect council leaders to hold someone from their own party to account, or be fair with those from other parties? Furthermore, readers will probably be aware of how much money has been wasted redesigning London buses for political reasons.
There is a better way. It is a way that minimises political interference whilst adding accountability. It is a way that guarantees expertise and long-term planning. And it requires one to think outside the box.
Rather than trying to elect a politician to upgrade our ???transport infrastructure,???why not simply employ the person who has the best technical qualifications? Democracy isn’t always about having elections. It’s about governmental systems that can be relied upon to serve the public.
Here’s how it would work.
The parties would work together to produce a cross-party long-term plan. This long-term metro strategy would then be voted on by all councillors in the wider area. To ensure it remains long-term, it would require a 66.7 per cent majority to amend. This provides extra protection against being damaged by partisan politics.
The parties would then interview candidates to implement the plan. The chief executive???would require approval from half the councillors to appoint and could likewise be removed???though a simple vote of no confidence.
This gives the councils leverage to insist upon whatever accountability they feel is necessary. But parties could also be held responsible at their next election for partisan removal of a chief executive.
This solves the metro accountability problem. More importantly, it puts a professional in charge of implementing a long-term cross-party plan.???Lastly, North Somerset Council, who’ve said they don’t want a metro mayor, may be enticed back into a scheme that really needs them.
David Gould is the chairman of Bristol for Democracy. This article is adapted from one which first appeared on their blog, and they have a Facebook group here.
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