Government to ‘kickstart devolution revolution’: CCN responds

Today the government has pledged to kickstart a ‘devolution revolution’ in England, and has invited areas without an agreement in place to submit proposals by the end of September.

In a letter to areas with no agreement currently in place, the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said new settlements should be tailored towards ‘sensible economic geographies’ and will continue with the county combined authority model in ‘the majority of cases’.

This follows CCN’s calls for the new government to maintain the momentum on devolution by continuing with what has worked over the last few years, including retaining the county combined authorities model and using county geographies as the building blocks for agreements.

The CCN’s pre-election Manifesto For Counties called for every county area that has not agreed a deal given the opportunity to do so by 2027.

The government has also announced that devolution settlements that have mayors will be able to sit on a forthcoming Council of Regions and Nations.

Below, the CCN responds to today’s announcement:

Cllr Tim Oliver, Chairman of the County Councils Network, said:

“During the general election campaign, the County Councils Network called on whoever won the election to maintain the momentum on county devolution, and today’s announcement from the government shows it is serious about continuing the progress over the last two years, which have seen 15 county areas agree a devolution settlement in the past two years. These agreements could be transformational: devolving powers in housing, transport, skills and more to local areas, giving us the levers to drive growth and prosperity.

“To unlock devolution for the half of England yet to agree local deals, it is vital the government builds on what has worked, including using county geographies as the building blocks. We welcome the announcement that the government will continue with the county combined authority model that helped unlock the devolution logjam, and a new framework must be focused on expanding the current range of powers on offer to local areas, rather than ripping up the process and starting fresh. For instance, where a combined authority is not required, the government should continue to devolve powers directly to the county or unitary authority.

“The government has also confirmed that it will be flexible on governance arrangements, which is the right approach. Whilst there are benefits to mayors or directly-elected leaders, the reality is they are unsuitable for some county areas, as shown over the last few years. However all county and unitary councils are hugely ambitious for their areas, and choosing not to have a mayor should not stymie those ambitions and those places should have as much of a strong voice with the government as those that do have a mayor.

“County and unitary councils stand ready to work with government on boosting local and national productivity. They come to the table with plenty of ideas and experience and want to help shape decisions on the new Council of Nations and Regions alongside developing their own local growth plans to drive the national renewal we all want to see.”