King's Speech 2024 - English Devolution Bill

Wednesday, 17 July 2024 11:30

English Devolution Bill “My Government believes that greater devolution of decision making is at the heart of a modern dynamic economy and is a key driver of economic growth and my Ministers will introduce an English Devolution Bill.” Devolved areas now account for almost half of England's population and more than half of its economic output. However, the inconsistent, deal based and patchwork approach has left too many levers for growth in the hands of central...Request free trial

English Devolution Bill

“My Government believes that greater devolution of decision making is at the heart of a modern dynamic economy and is a key driver of economic growth and my Ministers will introduce an English Devolution Bill.”

Devolved areas now account for almost half of England's population and more than half of its economic output. However, the inconsistent, deal based and patchwork approach has left too many levers for growth in the hands of central government, and too many institutions with different powers and governance arrangements.

England is one of the most centralised economies in the world and has some of the highest levels of geographic inequality. These two things are linked. Westminster does not have the local knowledge, capacity and flexibility needed to take advantage of every opportunity available in every place.

Recognising the vital role local leaders play in our national mission to drive economic growth, the English Devolution Bill will deliver the Government's manifesto commitment to transfer power out of Westminster and into our local communities, allowing them to take back control.

It will also enable our towns and cities to thrive by strengthening mayoral powers, giving local leaders the tools to kickstart their economies, as well as empowering communities to transform their neighbourhoods, high streets and important community assets.

What does the Bill do?

The English Devolution Bill will establish a new framework for English devolution, moving power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best. It will give local leaders the tools they need to drive growth by:

putting a more ambitious standardised devolution framework into legislation to give local leaders greater powers over the levers of local growth. This will include enhanced powers over strategic planning, local transport networks, skills, and employment support, enabling them to create jobs and improve living standards. We will also introduce new powers and duties for local leaders to produce Local Growth Plans.

making devolution the default setting, meaning places will be granted powers without the need to negotiate agreements where they meet the governance conditions. Local leaders will be able to formally request additional powers according to the framework and the Government will be required to consider the request and either devolve them or publicly explain their reasons for not doing so.

making it easier to provide devolved powers quickly to more areas through establishing a simpler process for creating new Combined and Combined County Authorities, to ensure that every part of England can rapidly benefit from devolution. The Bill will establish a legislative foundation upon which to widen and deepen devolution, with a weighting towards creating advanced mayoral settlements where there is the capacity and ambition to do so.

improving and unblocking local decision making through more effective governance arrangements, ensuring mayors and Combined Authorities can get on and deliver for their areas.

empowering local communities with a strong new ‘right to buy' for valued community assets, such as empty shops, pubs and community spaces. This will help to revamp high streets and end the blight of empty premises.

Territorial extent and application

The majority of the measures in the Bill will extend to England and Wales and apply to England.

Key facts

The UK is highly centralised compared to other OECD countries such as France or Germany, with decisions taken, and many funding decisions made, centrally in Westminster.

The OECD has reported that “if the autonomy of UK cities was to increase to the same level as Helsinki, productivity would increase across all cities by an average of 12 per cent”.

OECD-wide literature suggests decentralisation can be conducive to stronger and more balanced interregional growth. However, benefits only happen where governmental quality and capacity are high, and governance is not fragmented. And making devolution successful depends on handing the right policy levers to local government, at the right level.

James Stevens, director for cities at the Home Builders Federation said that “Giving all eleven metro mayoral combined authority areas spatial plan making powers would be a very important step in addressing the housing crisis, enabling them to address the problem of very large unmet housing needs that are accumulating in some cities like Birmingham and Bristol.”