Clear direction for county devolution deals needed

A new report has said that the long-awaited levelling up white paper should include a framework for how the government will negotiate devolution deals with county areas.

Published by the Institute for Government, the County Councils Network and Grant Thornton UK LLP, the report sets out a series of recommendations for both central and local government. It finds that some local leaders are cautious about committing resources to negotiating county deals until the government’s position becomes more clearly defined – one roundtable participant warned of ‘chaos’ if government just ‘lets a thousand flowers bloom’.

The report argues that a devolution framework would provide much needed clarity about how the devolution process will be taken forward. This should build on the principles set out last July that put county and unitary authorities in the driving seat for negotiating deals based on existing county geographies.

Other recommendations include that the government must provide strong cross-departmental leadership, with chancellor Rishi Sunak demonstrating the Treasury’s commitment to devolution. Additionally, it argues that the county deals should provide greater budgetary flexibility for local government, allowing county leaders to reallocate resources according to local needs and priorities.

Since 2014, the government has devolved power mainly to city regions like Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. The only county areas to secure devolution have been Cambridgeshire, Northumberland and Cornwall. England’s other 23 county councils and 57 unitary authorities, 14 of which are ‘predominantly rural’, remain responsible only for the narrower set of functions conferred by central government on local authorities. As a result, 58 per cent of England’s population, across 83 per cent of its land area, live in areas with no devolution deal.

Martin Hill, County Councils Network Devolution spokesperson, said: “The principles underpinning county deals set out by government earlier this year rightly put county and unitary authorities in the driving seat for negotiating deals based on existing county geographies. This paper shows that to deliver a truly ambitious programme of county devolution, the white paper needs go further by embedding these key foundations within a new framework, while continuing to take a flexible approach to local governance arrangements.”

Akash Paun, IfG senior fellow and report co-author, said: “The government needs to provide a clearer sense of direction, while leaving enough flexibility for devolution deals that reflect varying local circumstances in different parts of England. For their part, local leaders may need to compromise on governance reform if they want to unlock significant devolution, including by opening the door to direct election of county leaders.”