Industry experts certainly believe the legislation to be a step in the right direction, but there’s a long way to go before we commend a job well done.
Towards the end of last week Jim McMahon MBE, the minister of state for local government and devolution, introduced the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill into parliament. The legislation builds on a government white paper, which was published last December, and could implement the biggest changes to councils in 50 years.
In a nutshell, the legislation aims to introduce a new authority in England called ‘strategic authority’, which will make it easier and quicker to devolve powers from Westminster to local government.
What’s more, mayors will also be granted the ‘right to request’, allowing them to propose further powers, funding and partnerships to expand the devolution framework. The government will be legally required to respond to any requests from such authorities.
When the bill was first announced, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, said: ‘We were elected on a promise of change, not just for a few areas cherry-picked by a Whitehall spreadsheet, but for the entire country. It was never going to be easy to deliver the growth our country desperately needed with the inheritance we were dumped with.
‘But that’s why we are opting to devolve not dictate and delivering a bill that will rebalance decade old divides and empower communities.’
Meanwhile, Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of Local Government Information Unit (LGIU0, said news of the bill ‘is a positive step along the road but it’s not mission accomplished.’
‘A clearer devolution framework, a ‘lock in’ of transferred powers and a duty to collaborate with – and right to request collaboration from – other mayors are all helpful,’ he added. ‘But there’s no real fiscal devolution that we’re seeing. There’s no real clarity on how coterminosity with other public service geographies is to be achieved. There’s no detail on how strategic authorities will work with new unitaries to push public service reform. And there’s no recognition of the importance of councils in delivering all of this.’
Echoing a similar tone, Lawrence Turner of Boyer added a number of obstacles need to be overcome first, before we can think of the announcement as a success.
He explained: ‘The bill introduces ‘Strategic Authorities’, a new category of authority aimed at streamlining the devolution of powers from Westminster to local authorities. Whether you’re in Greater Manchester or Devon, these new authorities aim to simplify how we manage transport, housing, and economic growth at a regional level. This would include combined authorities, combined county authorities, and the Greater London Authority all playing a role.
‘But that’s just the beginning. In practice, the bill means local leaders will have more say over crucial issues such as transport and local infrastructure. For instance, Strategic Authorities will be responsible for transport planning, housing development, and economic growth initiatives. They’ll also introduce local growth plans tailored to their specific needs, ensuring that local strengths and challenges are acknowledged and addressed.
‘However, many of these new powers only come into effect once strategic development strategies are in place. So, this will be the first step to truly deliver cooperation between our local authorities – and in a much more substantial way than we currently do, by simply preparing a duty to cooperate statement as part of a local plan examination.’
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