Author Archives: davidsweeting

The co-authors of this contribution are members of the Bristol Civic Leadership Research Project: David Sweeting, Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies at the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol; Robin Hambleton, Emeritus Professor of City Leadership at the University of the West of England, Bristol; and Thom Oliver, Associate Lecturer, University of the West of England, Bristol.

In a referendum on 5 May 2022, the citizens of Bristol will make an important decision about the way our city is governed. 

Citizens will be asked to choose between retaining the existing mayoral model of governance, which was introduced into Bristol in 2012, or to opt for a committee system of decision-making, which was last used in Bristol in 2000. In a new report, called The Bristol referendum 2022: Thinking through the options, we consider:

• What exactly are these two ways of running a city?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of these two models?
• How could the models be designed to enable Bristol to respond to the current challenges the city now faces?

This is the latest report from the Bristol Civic Leadership Project (BCLP). This project, which brings together city governance experts from our two local universities, has been examining the impact of mayoral governance on the city since 2012. 

Research findings on mayoral governance and the committee system

Our research has shown that the introduction of mayoral governance has had many benefits for Bristol. Opinion research carried out by the BCLP before and after the introduction of a directly elected mayor – in 2012, 2014 and 2018 – indicates that the citizens of Bristol felt that the leadership of the city became far more visible. Civic leaders agreed that the mayoral model enhanced the visibility of the city leader, and they also felt that the mayoral model had improved the leadership of the city. 

Detailed investigation over the last ten years has also revealed that civic leaders in the city, in the public, private and community sectors, as well as citizens at large, take the view that Bristol’s first two directly elected mayors, Mayor Ferguson (2012-2016) and Mayor Rees (2016-2024), have both been successful in developing a positive vision for the future of the city and that the mayoral model meant that the city was much better represented in national and international settings.

On the downside BCLP research has also shown that, following the introduction of mayoral governance, many councillors felt that their role in city governance became unnecessarily restricted. There was also concern amongst civic leaders that too much power had become concentrated in the office of the mayor. Our survey research also suggests that citizens’ views on the timeliness of, and trust in, decision-making have not been improved by the introduction of mayoral governance in Bristol.

This new report also reviews experience with the committee system used in Bristol and across local government in Britain up to 2000. Supporters of the committee system argued that it enabled local government to be both effective and democratic, and that it provided councillors with influential roles in decision-making. 

However, in a report published by the Bristol Local Democracy Commission in 2001, major criticisms of the committee system were identified. The Commission found that there was no clear and accountable leadership, that important decisions were not subject to proper and effective scrutiny, and that a lot of time and effort was absorbed to no great effect in committee meetings.

Where next for city governance in Bristol?

Current legislation means that the referendum will fix the governance system of Bristol for ten years, from 2024 to 2034. It is a hugely significant decision. This new report discusses a range of issues for citizens to consider and here we highlight three important themes.

First, the literature on city leadership suggests that the way city governance is organised can have an important impact, not just on whether a city council is able to be effective in meeting the many complex issues they face, but also on the democratic vitality and inclusiveness of decision-making in their city. 

It follows that all the citizens of Bristol should be encouraged to consider which of these two models of governance will help the city respond to the major challenges now facing the city. These challenges include: responding to the public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic; revitalising the economy of Bristol in the face of economic downturn; addressing the global climate emergency; and addressing increasing social, economic and racial inequality in our city.

Second, key democratic questions emerge in this debate. What are the advantages and disadvantages of enabling citizens to directly elect the city leader? What are the pros and cons of the committee system, where the council leader is selected by councillors? As part of our research on mayoral governance, we have long argued for stronger roles for councillors within the mayoral system. Adopting a committee system gives councillors clear roles in decision-making. In our report, we consider these and other matters, and include consideration of the ways that the models shape political leadership, their impacts on accountability and the ways that they affect the representation of people locally and the city externally.

Third, given the momentous significance of the May referendum for the future governance of Bristol the report recommends the establishment of an independent Bristol Governance Commission. This new commission, which would need to include representatives from across the voluntary, community, trade union, business, public and university sectors should be charged with the task of considering the best way to improve the governance of the City of Bristol. 

This new commission should be set up without delay to take evidence, to consider experiences with successful city governance elsewhere in the world and to make recommendations to Bristol City Council. 

The outcome of the Bristol Referendum in May 2022 is best seen not as the end of a debate about city leadership in Bristol, but the beginning of a civic conversation on how to improve the quality of city governance in our city.

In this Opinion piece for Bristol 24/7, published on 26/4/21, Robin Hambleton suggests that the Bristol One City Approach to city governance has brought about many benefits.  He argues that, whist this collaborative way of responding to the challenges facing Bristol can be improved, it is important to remember that it represents a significant advance on previous approaches to city governance.

Authored by Robin Hambleton a new book – Cities and communities beyond COVID-19. How local leadership can change our future for the better – includes a chapter discussing the Bristol One City Approach in some detail.  Published in October 2020 this book suggests that successful city strategies now need to address four major challenges at once: the COVID-19 health emergency, a very sharp economic downturn arising from the pandemic, the climate emergency, and deep-seated social, economic and racial inequality.  For more information see:

https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/cities-and-communities-beyond-covid-19

In a referendum held in May 2012 the citizens of Bristol voted in favour of introducing a Directly Elected Mayor model of governance for the city.  As part of the Bristol Festival of Ideas a new report providing the latest assessment of this important innovation will be launched at the Bristol Old Vic on 17 March 2020.  Written by Dr David Sweeting, Professor Robin Hambleton and Dr Thom Oliver, this third Policy Report from the Bristol Civic Leadership Project will provide an independent assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the model of mayoral governance as implemented in Bristol over the last eight years.

Details of the launch are as follows:

Date: Tuesday 17 March 2020.

Time: 6.00 to 7.30pm

Location: Coopers’ Hall, Bristol Old Vic, King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED

The launch is free but anyone wishing to attend needs to register with the Festival.  Please click here:

https://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/events/mayoral_governance/

The Newham Democracy and Civic Participation Commission invited Robin Hambleton to provide evidence about the strengths and weaknesses of the mayoral model of governance to an Evidence Hearing held in Newham on 29 January 2020. Like Bristol, the London Borough of Newham has a directly elected mayor.  Rokhsana Fiaz, the current mayor, established this independent Commission to examine the performance of the mayoral model and, in addition, to explore ways of strengthening resident engagement in the borough. Robin explained how the mayoral model in Bristol has resulted in a dramatic increase in the visibility of city leadership and answered questions about the way mayoral governance in Bristol has evolved in the period since 2012. The Newham Commission is expected to publish its report in March 2020. For more information on the Commission visit: https://www.newhamdemocracycommission.org/ 

Event at The Foundation, central Bristol, 6/11/19, 6pm

There are now 25 directly elected mayors in the UK, with the prospect of more to come. Bristol now has two directly elected mayors, one who heads Bristol City Council, and another who leads the West of England combined authority. Drawing on research conducted locally, nationally, and internationally, this interactive event will advance understanding of the impact of the introduction of directly elected mayors in English local government. It includes the following speakers:

• Arianna Giovannini, Institute for Public Policy Research and De Montfort University
• Baroness Barbara Janke, Member of the House of Lords and former Leader, Bristol City Council
• Alessandro Sancino, The Open University, and former politician
• David Sweeting, University of Bristol
• Chair: Thom Oliver, University of the West of England

This event is free to attend but booking is required. Please register here, via eventbrite.

‘What have directly elected mayors done for us?’ is one of a series of events organised under Thinking Futures, which shares and celebrates research undertaken in the University of Bristol’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Law.

Dr Thom Oliver was recently invited onto the Emma Britton Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Bristol on Tuesday 3^rd September to discuss the proposed increase in salaries for Bristol’s Directly Elected Mayor and Bristol’s local councillors.

Thom discussed how the proposed salary compared with other bigpolitical roles, and mayoral roles in the UK, including how the independent remuneration committee had benchmarked against roles of a similar size and scale. The original mayoral salary was benchmarked against that of a Member of Parliament, and Thom discussed that within the private sector a leader managing an organisation of equivalent size and scale to Bristol City Council in terms of staff, budget and revenue could expect a significantly higher salary. Thom also highlighted that even with the increase in the councillor allowance to around £13,000 given the scale and size of their role (a recent audit suggested councillors work around 25 hours per week in their councillor role) councillors were earning around the national living wage or less. This poses a significant question in terms of are we paying our councillors enough, and what are the implications of this salary for the types of people that put themselves forward to be elected?

The full recording, available for around 30 days on the BBC Sounds app can be accessed here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07klm6q with the segment on the proposed mayoral and councillor salary increases beginning at 2:06:25.

Launched at a City Gathering in January 2019 Bristol’s One City Plan presents a long-term vision for Bristol covering the period to 2050.  In a short article, first published in The Planner on 28 March 2019, Robin Hambleton offers a commentary on the key features of this new, strategic initiative.

The University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, Bristol are working closely with the Bristol City Office to enhance their contribution to the governance of Bristol and the Bristol city region.  The latest iteration is the co-organisation of the Bristol Forum. This important civic event, to be held on 29 March 2019, is designed to advance the problem-solving capacity of the city.  Here, in an article first published on the UK higher education website, Wonkhe, on 14 March 2019, Robin Hambleton explains how civic leaders in Bristol are drawing lessons from the imaginative leadership shown by universities in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.