English Devolution Bill becomes law

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill has received Royal Assent has received Royal Assent and giving more powers to local government and communities.

The Act will introduce new measures to expand devolution and empower mayors and local people.

A new Community Right to Buy will give local people the first right of refusal for valued community assets such as shops and community centres when they are put up for sale.

Gambling Impact Assessments will be introduced to address the proliferation of gambling shops on the high street, so councils can prevent new gambling shops opening.

Upwards Only Rent Review clauses in new and renewal commercial leases will also be banned. These previously prevented businesses’ rents from decreasing - even if the market rate decreased - for new commercial rental agreements.

The Act will also introduce new national standards for taxi drivers, allowing enforcement officers to suspend licences issued by other local authorities where a driver is operating outside their licensed area.

More local transport authorities will be given new powers to enforce against dangerous pavement parking including through fixed penalty notices, and there will be new licencing powers for rental e-bikes which will allow local authorities to set specific requirements on parking, safety, and accessibility standards.

Mayoral Strategic Authorities will be mandated to develop local growth plans and a new bespoke duty will be introduce for Mayors and Strategic Authorities to ensure they formally consider local health improvement and health inequalities when making policy decisions.

Mayors will gain new powers for Mayors to intervene in planning applications of potential strategic importance, make mayoral development orders and charge a mayoral community infrastructure levy on developers.