MINISTERS are drawing up plans to give mayors significant new powers over hospitals and schools as part of a new wave of devolution that could change how public services are run in England. Steve Reed, the local government secretary, wants to give mayors control over many more local services, and is weighing up handing over some NHS services and even parts of the criminal justice system. The plans have received the backing of the Labour Together thinktank, which Reed helped found, in a report published yesterday. Supporters of the plans point out that if mayors could gain control over hospitals and social care, for example, they could divert NHS funding into community care schemes, ‘saving money in the process’. But Reed is calling for mayors to be given the power to appoint health commissioners to take charge instead.