The Devolution White Paper: Examining the detail.

Written by Ben Bradley, Strategic Advisor on Devolution

The long awaited Devolution White Paper appears to have lived up to the early hype, by announcing arguably the biggest shake up in local government since the 1970s.  

A major reorganisation of Councils into larger, strategic authorities with a minimum 500,000 population, new strategic planning powers for regional Mayors, and more say over post-16 education all form part of the Government’s agenda to get things done. In announcing the plans, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner says that Government is giving Mayors ‘the tools to shape the future for their local areas.’ 

There’s also potentially a striking cultural change for Whitehall, as the White Paper seeks to set a principle of ‘devolution by default’, suggesting that regional Mayors should be able to access whatever powers they request, unless there’s a good reason not to grant them. That’s a real shift in emphasis, in what is currently one of the most centralised systems of government in the Western world.  

Here’s a summary of what we’ve learned: 

Devolution by default  

This is a significant change of approach and will be music to the ears of regional Mayors around the country, if it’s truly implemented. It opens up opportunities for established Mayors to present proposals to Ministers, asking for additional new powers and in theory Government should say ‘yes’ – unless it can find a good reason not to.  

Now of course, in practice, what amounts to a ‘good’ reason is likely to vary, and only time will tell how much appetite the Whitehall mandarins really have to give away power.   

Recent experience suggests that some departments are very open to this change, with things like transport now routinely devolved to all Mayors, whilst others consistently put barriers in the way of passing powers down to a local level. Time will tell, and this will no doubt cause a few arguments as Mayors begin to make their requests. 

The announcement did offer some new powers to Mayors automatically. For example, the ability to raise Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levies on developments, to set up a Strategic Land Commission, and a new role in the accountability of Homes England, who will now work more directly with Combined Authorities as well as central government.  

Local Government Reorganisation  

The document outlines requirements for all remaining ‘two-tier’ areas – largely rural counties that have both District and County Councils – to submit proposals for reorganisation. This will spark an urgent discussion in many areas of the country about the most appropriate boundaries or ‘mergers’, and how to balance the potential cost and complexity with a drive to get things done quickly.  

Any new Ministerial power announced would give Government the right to impose structural changes on Councils that can’t agree on a plan locally, which is about the most robust version of this kind of policy we’ve seen in recent times, and means that Councils will likely have to accept the principle and get on with planning pretty quickly.  
 
New ‘Strategic Authorities’ will effectively be mergers of smaller Districts into larger councils, with a minimum population of 500k. There are certainly savings to be had by doing this – at least in the medium term once the cost of all the change and disruption subsides – and Government is saying there’s £2bn in efficiencies, as well as economies of scale and opportunities to resolve some issues in service delivery. However, critics will argue that it takes decisions further away from the public and communities and that it is, therefore, a centralisation of power rather than devolution. Time and resource-intensive reorganisation could also be a huge distraction from the core ambition of delivering growth. Council resources are already stretched.   

Minister of State Jim McMahon has also suggested that in some cases if Councils are quick off the mark in submitting proposals, next year’s local elections could be postponed in order to ease the transition into new structures. It’s thought that roughly 10-12 existing two-tier County areas, so around half of those that exist, have already had some level of conversation with Government indicating some willingness to get moving. Many of those will currently be on course for the May 2025 elections.  

Strategic Planning  

All of that change, including seemingly the abolition of hundreds of the current local planning authorities, will mean a major shake-up in how planning decisions are made. Last weeks’ National Planning Policy Framework announcements brought back mandatory housing targets, and the White Paper requires ‘upper tier’ Councils – i.e. the Unitary and County Councils – to develop spatial plans to aid major development of housing and other infrastructure. That’s a big change in itself, as normally Local Plans are the preserve of smaller District Councils. Government is clearly acting quickly to divert responsibilities away from those Authorities.  

The NPPF plans also laid out proposals to approve more planning applications by ‘delegated decision’ – i.e. by Council Officers rather than politicians – and to streamline planning committees. This may speed things up but will also lead to fears of development being imposed on communities. Ministers are also set to interfere less in local planning, with powers to ‘call in’ planning applications increasingly held at a regional level rather than in Whitehall. 

Council-level Spatial Plans will be complemented by new strategic planning powers for regional Mayors. As things stand, Combined Authorities can agree strategic plans for development, but only with the unanimous approval of all of the Councils involved. Going forward Mayors will be able to implement plans themselves, with the bar raised much higher so that Councils can only stop them if the majority object. That’s a significant shift of power away from the Local Authorities themselves and into the hands of the Mayor.  

Government sees this as a way of simplifying decision making and getting things done, as well as ensuring that Whitehall only has perhaps 20-30 Mayors to talk to about strategic development, rather than hundreds of Local Authorities.  

A lot of further changes 

In addition, we’re set to see Fire Authorities and Police & Crime Commissioners fold in to Mayoral Authorities, with the roles themselves likely to disappear in favour of a Deputy Mayor with these specific responsibilities, as has already happened in places like Greater Manchester. Mayors will also have more sway in decisions about post-16 education, extending their influence from currently just post-19, to a wider range of Further Education provision. 
 
The White Paper also laid out plans to extend ‘single funding pots’ with additional flexibilities to Mayors, with less complexity. Rayner said that funding for things like adult skills, retrofitting homes and more will eventually be included in this core funding settlement. Further influence over national funding decisions for things like arts, culture and sports is set to be granted, with government departments currently looking at how to do this.  

So what does it mean? 

The impact of the What Paper should not be underestimated; for Councils who are now faced with significant change and disruption over the coming years, for Combined Authorities grappling with setting up and implementing new powers effectively, and also for investors looking to get things built or planning for major projects approved across England.   

2025 will see a whole host of functions in planning, transport and local growth shifting to new and emerging Authorities, with different politicians and staff in charge, representing newly defined communities.  
 
If you’re a regional Mayor, you’re likely pretty pleased with the increasing amount of influence heading your way to make changes in your area. Government hopes that these changes will make for quicker decisions, that err more on the side of ‘approval’ of projects that can drive growth, and with clearer long-term plans for strategic development.  

Meanwhile, critics will be fighting to maintain the levels of local democratic and community input, in what they’ll see as a centralisation of powers up to a regional level, and less opportunity for local scrutiny.  

There are a wide range of new powers coming down to regional Combined Authorities, and the ‘clout’ of Mayors is only set to grow. Last week we discussed several of these impending announcements with a panel of experts from Local Government, regional Authorities and academia, looking more closely at what this will mean on the ground. You can find it here if you want to dig into this further.

As the legislation develops next year, and key policy announcements from the White Paper permeate around ‘the system’, at Cavendish we’ll keep you in the loop on all the developments. If you want to talk to us about how all this will impact your work, contact us here and let’s book a date.