Utility Week

14 | 24TH - 30TH JANUARY 2020 | UTILITY WEEK New Deal for Utilities P reparation, they say, is everything, and that means teaming up with others to crack the challenges posed by huge beasts like regional growth and net zero. Jonathan Werran, chief executive of the independent neo-localism thinktank Localis, is a big advocate of regional players work- ing together, including utilities. And he has seen many strong examples of partnerships in action around the country. Yet despite the obvious opportuni- ties o• ered by the clean, regional growth agenda, he notes a worrying lack of prepara- tion by the organisations involved. And plan- ning time is running out. "How many action plans are there? How many combined authorities, city regions, big non-met areas, are doing strong preparation work to see how energy networks, water net- works can help ful- l this? "I can't think of many. It's a great lacuna in preparing for 2050. There really is only a very limited window, maybe four or - ve years maximum, to get all the planning down." On the plus side, Werran sees the Conservatives' plans for clean growth as a jobs generator and regional growth genera- tor. Although "a lot of thought needs to go in the middle", he says "the exciting challenge is how well our growth bodies – your North- ern Powerhouse, your Midlands Engine, and combined authorities – can rise to it. And I'm very sure they can if they get their thinking and their systems alignment right." On the recurring theme of cross-collab- oration, he believes it is vital local organi- sations, including utilities, are properly prepared. "There needs to be far more cross- collaboration between di• erent parts of the public sector – essentially local government and regional bodies – and industry. There's also going to have to be a lot of overlapping boundaries issues too. Werran is calling for "bigger partnerships, as you are seeing in parts of the South East. It's not something that can be done by a sin- gle body". With the lion's share of attention on the North, is this where we're likely to see the most momentum, I ask, or could regional growth impact utilities all over the country? "It's something that's going to have to involve all four corners of the land, their regional bodies and utilities. Sajid Javid's got his £100 billion cheque for infrastructure and he's going to direct it more at the Mid- lands and the North for reasons of rebalanc- ing the economy, as well as political reasons. "But it's still got to work for all four quar- ters, including for example the coastal and rural communities which don't have the ben- e- ts of agglomeration you get in cities." Success stories With regional partnerships like the Northern Powerhouse seemingly bywords for encour- aging successful local growth, does that suggest utilities should become more closely involved with—them? "The die's been cast as far as that is con- cerned. The government will be investing a lot of time and e• ort in the regional growth bodies. And on top of that you've got the English Devolution White Paper coming out soon, as mentioned in the Queen's Speech. So, there will be more regional groupings, perhaps more with a lower-case r, than not." There will be an impact on local govern- ment structure, with potentially more power- ful mayoral leaders. All this is likely to play very strongly into the agendas of regional partnerships, which Werran believes have "won the battle of optimism over cynicism" because they've become "something that industry, government, and - nance can push behind. There's a sense of belief ". But have they really been successful? "What I can say is that it's not enough just to bring people around the table. Creating unity is harder than people give it credit for. They have created a strong sense of many in body but one in mind. There seems to be a shared vision that I think bodes well in propelling the vision forward over the next decade." Of course, the extent of regional growth will vary, even within nearby areas. Regional Growth We need local heroes If utilities are to make the most of the new horizons off ered by the government's policy shift towards boosting the regions, they must forge even deeper regional partnerships, Jonathan Werran, CEO of Localis, tells Suzanne Heneghan. Manchester has been criticised by some for steaming ahead over its northern neigh- bours, essentially creating the need for more inter-region levelling up. Should it be reined in, I ask? "Manchester got where it is because of two decades' worth of painstaking intelligent consensus-building, getting the relations right with central government, and track- ing unity with the constituent individual boroughs that made up Greater Manchester. I think it would be cutting o• your nose to spite your face to retard Greater Manchester over progress in this regard. "If the point is to give everyone who agrees to a mayoral model the opportunity to scale up, to enjoy genuine devolution as opposed to tokenistic decentralisation over minor tri› ing things, then Manchester needs to keep › ying the › ag. It needs to be sup- ported to be strong." Priorities So what should utilities' priorities now be, in terms of embracing the regional growth agenda, I ask Werran? "Continue to further your links with the regional pro-growth bodies, the combined authorities. Work together in partnership as a broad industry front so that things align well when lobbying central government. "But before you start, - ll out the envelope on what you can already do locally before asking for any more powers." Are we now looking at a golden oppor- tunity for utilities and their ability to attract the investment they are going to need for net zero? "I don't think in many people's work- ing lifetimes there will be such a full sail from the political and economic winds to make this happen. "It's probably wrong to pin all hopes on a government, or regional policy, but I think that aœ er three years of Brexit water torture, there's a strong sense of direction. Wisely navigating those streams and rapids should be in everyone's interests." Regional growth is not going to happen overnight, though, successful or otherwise. "My view is that it will be a decade-long process, at least," says Werran, who also thinks that although things won't have been completed and topped o• – "there will be a sense of aspiration that money is coming through to make life better". "Better skills, new ways of government, of - nancing things, and getting communities more invested in infrastructure. There will be much need to provide social infrastructure in parallel with the economic infrastructure being laid under the ground." • Next week: Siemens and the regions

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