Devolution in England: answering your frequently asked questions

How will the devolution of government decision making impact you and your local area?

In July, the UK Government published its long awaited English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, following on from the English Devolution White Paper that was released in December last year. Covering some 350 pages, 79 clauses and 31 schedules, the bill will see the most radical reorganisation of local government since the Local Government Act 1972. Such a reform will undoubtedly have consequences for both the rural economy and rural communities.

Earlier this month, we published a video discussion on the main issues regarding devolution, this blog puts some more meat on the bones and answers any questions you might have about the devolution of powers in England.

Devolution refers to the transfer of power and decision making responsibilities from the centre, meaning Whitehall, to local areas, such as county councils. The general idea is that, compared to national governing bodies, regions have a far better grasp of the problems they encounter at a local level. You could say, local problems should be solved by local solutions.

If we look at what’s happening now with the government’s English Devolution Bill and the desire to promote devolution, the ambition is to give more powers to local decision making. The issue that remains is how this model of devolution – giving more powers to mayoral local authorities or combined authorities – will impact rural communities and businesses.

Looking at the current list of mayoral authorities, such as London, Manchester and Liverpool, the government has decided that devolving powers and money will lead to investment into urban areas to regenerate and provide essential public services.

But, this very focus underlines the problem: the priority is, in the vast majority of cases, urban. Even where a mayoral authority has a significant rural hinterland, the first response appears to be on targeting urban areas. This means getting the message across that rurality can and does lead to economic impetus and growth is a big challenge.

A growing problem is that as the process is moving at multiple speeds. As mayors’ get more devolved funding and powers with the potential for better local decision making, rural areas are often the last to benefit. For example:

• The established big metro mayors (e.g. Manchester and Liverpool) already have large devolved budgets and wide ranging powers
• A new group of recent mayors have smaller budgets and powers
• Some areas are due to get a mayor in the next two to three years
• In other areas (mainly rural such as in the South West) the process has not really started

There are, however, a number of combined authorities in a variety of regions - places such as York and North Yorkshire; Cambridge and Peterborough and Lincolnshire - which cover large swathes of rural land. These regions have power over a variety of things, including transport, skills, economic development and some planning and housing, which allows them to develop local growth plans.

The key point to consider here is that decisions are taken by the local leader or mayor, rather than central government. For example, Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester has brought buses back into public service, but this has not been replicated everywhere.

Other examples include West Midlands creating tram networks and the Teeswork project in the Tees Valley that has a focus on renewable energy. Clearly, devolution deals will look different everywhere.

The government plans on devolution are probably the most radical change in regional decision making since local government reforms in 1972. But rather than making these changes overnight, it will be a staged process where some areas in England have already submitted devolution plans to the government, while some are finalising their proposals and others have yet to start the process.

All counties in England are different, they are unique and have different opportunities and challenges. That means the way local government will be set up in the future and the areas of focus will inevitably vary.

However, the UK Government has made it clear that one constant needs to be in place across all regions, what it calls, cabinet governance. This means that a local authority creates a cabinet where councillors are appointed to cabinet posts or portfolios and have clear policy remits. This is intended to streamline local decision making.

Finding out what is happening in your area will depend on what a local authority wants to do. We know that a number who are changing to mayoral or combined authorities are consulting businesses and the public. The CLA is already involved in these discussions and will continue to be, but we want to go further, given the importance of the devolution agenda. This means that we will be looking at ways to join others to help shape the future devolution agenda. We are already working with a group of local authorities called Britain’s Leading Edge to ensure that all local authorities in the country understand and recognise the importance of the rural economy.

This year, local elections were halted in nine local authorities, in places such as Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Surrey. There were some accusations that this was trying to stop the democratic process and the response was that it was saving money for cash-strapped local authorities.

District and borough councils will be either abolished or absorbed into the new combined or unitary authorities. The electorate will still have a councillor for a particular area but this area will be larger than it was before. In Dorset, for example, when it became a unitarity authority, the number of councillors fell from 172 to 82.

In a nutshell, this bill provides a framework for the devolution of powers and responsibilities from central to local government. It includes:

• The reorganisation of local government
• A new community right to buy
• Licensing powers for micromobility schemes
• Powers to create new local growth plans
• The establishment of a Local Audit Office

The bill will provide the framework for the UK Government’s programme of local government re-organisation through a new power to direct councils to become unitary authorities. The bill is very technical in nature with a lot of the impact of the devolution agenda happening at the coal face and locally. Although the bill itself is perhaps not likely to affect CLA members directly, the powers we are seeing in it will.

In a word, yes, but how these new powers will be used is yet to be determined. The bill states that the new structures being introduced will have their own targeted budgets and their own objectives.

Whilst the new legislation does not explicitly recognise rural areas, it does give the CLA the opportunity to push local authorities to focus on the countryside and to improve their understanding of the rural economy. One of the biggest challenges we have is the limited proactive engagement of local authorities. This leaves them often working in a policy vacuum, making decisions about rural areas with either very little or no real understanding of the rural economy and the various nuances that are involved.

What is necessary is to build a bridge or facilitation between these two parties. The form of this bridge would be a ‘rural board’, chaired by a cabinet member of the local authority and supported by a Rural Economic Development Committee made up of local businesses and their representatives. This way, we can ensure that rural interests remain at the forefront of local decision makers.

But of course, this means we need to put in place the resource required to make this happen. That is why the CLA will be creating a main regional group to inform us what is happening on the ground and a London group that will assist CLA regions with guidance and information that we receive from central government.

There is little doubt that mayors are becoming more important as they gain more powers, as is already the case in the larger cities. What the government is saying now is that the ‘mayor’ is no longer just a ceremonial figure. Through the devolution bill, they are being handed real power.

It’s important to remember that mayors will not be able to make a positive contribution to the economy if they, and their advisers, fail to understand or neglect the importance of rural communities. This provides the CLA with the opportunity to engage and pass on the necessary knowledge. The decisions that will be made by mayors will impact the entire rural economy so a positive dialogue with all local authorities is paramount.

Yes and no. Due to a difference in budgets and populations, each mayor will have different levels of influence – for example Andy Burnham in Manchester has a £2.6bn budget, while the West of England budget is £380m.

Mayors will likely be more powerful than most MPs in the Commons, especially those of the opposition. With their budgets, they are likely to be more significant than a lot of backbench government MPs, although these ministers always have the potential to rise up the ranks in Westminster.

A key point however is that mayors do not have the legislative power of MPs. MPs can take power from them, but they can’t take it back. Altogether, the power of the House of Commons and the 650 MPs in combination will remain more important the mayors.

Separately, local councilors or the constituency MP will likely remain CLA’s members first port of call when they have a local issue.

We are already working nationally and regionally with CLA advisers to engage with various mayors and their teams.

At the national level, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse will be conducting an enquiry into devolution. The APPG will take oral and written evidence from relevant stakeholders, mayors and parliamentarians. This will then form the basis of a report for new leaders of strategic authorities on how to use devolved power for the benefit of their rural constituents.

The new devolved local authorities will need to understand the economic potential of rural areas. That means we have a role in educating local authorities. The CLA will be countering the still pervasive policy position in government and in many councils; that virtually all growth is urban centric, with only our largest cities being the engines of growth, and market towns and rural areas being seen just as pretty places to live and visit.

Economies of scale do lead to greater efficiencies, but many urban areas have gone past the point of these economies of scale. Now we see “dis-economies” through the congestion, social challenges and creaking infrastructure issues that this creates, with inevitable impacts on the quality of life. A more balanced model of economic development is needed, in which towns and rural areas also grow, enabled by infrastructure upgrades - as we can see across much of northern Europe - would benefit the UK.

So, we need a more joined up approach where there is greater cohesion and an approach that can counteract the huge draw in jobs, services and the subsequent infrastructure of major cities.