English devolution bill reaches Parliament

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will be introduced to Parliament today, which aims to give local communities more governance and more power to their elected leaders and mayors.

The Bill will deliver on the government’s manifesto commitment to unlock a mass shift in power from Westminster to local leaders, to rebalance prosperity and delivery economic growth and renewal across the nation.

One of many changes ushered in by the Bill is making local ownership of pubs, shops and social hubs easier through a Community Right to Buy, which prioritises locals when assets are put up for sale, and are given an extended 12-month period to raise funding. 

The Bill will also ban Upward Only Rent Reviews (UORR) clauses in commercial landlords, which pit landlords against businesses and cause rents to skyrocket, and will keep small businesses running, boost local economies, and provide job opportunities.

Local authorities, should the Bill go through, will be required to implement effective neighbourhood governance to ensure residents have a say in shaping their local areas, and mayors will receive more powers on everything from e-bikes to planning permission. In particular, mayors will have additional powers to speed up the development of new homes and infrastructure in their areas.

New ‘Strategic Authorities’ will also improve connectivity and collaboration between Councils, ensuring that locals get the services they deserve and rely to a high standard.

A Local Audit Office will be established to increase transparency and simplify the system, and Local Growth Plans will be tailored to each area, fostering collaboration with mayors and central government, and focussing on each area’s individual needs.

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. We’re ushering in a new dawn of regional power and bringing decision making to a local level so that no single street or household is left behind and every community thrives from our Plan for Change.”