Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has announced the 'biggest transfer of power from Westminster to English regions this century', putting local authorities on an assembly line to unitary and mayoral status, supported with consolidated funding.
The move would put local infrastructure on a new footing in mayoral areas, potentially supported by integrated funding settlements bringing together policy areas including local roads and transport, housing, regeneration, local growth, skills and employment, with much less oversight from central government,
Instead, there will be outcomes frameworks attached to funding including a 'transport-specific accountability framework with a proportionate outcomes framework and metrics'.
Outlining its vision in a white paper today, the government wants 'faster bus franchising; joined-up transport funding; a statutory role for Mayors in governing, managing, planning, and developing the rail network; [an] option for Mayors to control local rail stations; and the right to request rail devolution for Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities'.
Local government will also enjoy multi-year funding settlements, a reduction in competitive bidding pots, new powers to regulate on-street micromobility schemes and, subject to consultation, the power to introduce local lane rental schemes without approval from government.
Ministers also pledged that there would be a formal partnership with National Highways for mayoral authorities and action to address pavement parking at a national level, with the promise of 'a formal response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation'.
The 'ultimate goal': universal strategic authorities
The Government said its ultimate goal is to scrap two-tier authorities, removing districts by 'ministerial directive' if necessary, in favour of 'universal coverage in England of strategic authorities – which should be a number of councils working together, covering areas that people recognise and work in'.
Labour said it would create in law the concept of a strategic authority, which will belong to one of three types with increasing autonomy and responsibilities.
- 'Foundation strategic authorities' would include non-mayoral combined authorities and combined county authorities automatically, and any local authority designated as a strategic authority without a Mayor.
- 'Mayoral strategic authorities': the Greater London Authority, all mayoral combined authorities and all mayoral combined county authorities will automatically begin as mayoral strategic authorities.
- 'Established mayoral strategic authorities (EMSA)' can unlock integrated funding settlement offers - authorities must meet specified eligibility criteria to be designated an EMSA.
There are plans for 'an ambitious first wave of reorganisation in this Parliament' with the reorganisation of two-tier areas and in 'unitary councils where there is evidence of failure or their size or boundaries hinder service delivery'.
Ministers will legislate for a ministerial directive to create strategic authorities 'where local leaders have not been able to make progress'.
Most of the new unitary councils would cover areas 'with a population of 500,000 or more, but there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area'.
There will also be reforms to the voting systems in mayoral strategic authorities, taking away a need for unanimous voting and moving towards a 'simple majority voting, including the Mayor’s vote, wherever possible'.
Through the English Devolution Bill, which the government aims to introduce in the first session of Parliament, a Devolution Framework will move the process away from ad hoc local deals to a systematic approach.
All strategic authorities will take on additional powers and devolved funding set out under the statutory Devolution Framework, which will set out the powers that go with each type of authority.
A new plan for roads
Strategic authorities will have a range of new highway functions and powers as follows:
- Mayoral strategic authorities will set up and co-ordinate a key route network (KRN) on behalf of the Mayor, allowing the most important local roads to be strategically managed.
- Mayors will hold a Power of Direction over their KRN to support the delivery of their agreed Local Transport Plan. Government will review the effectiveness of the Power of Direction two years after implementation.
- Responsibility for local roads will remain with constituent authorities unless otherwise agreed locally. The government will encourage strategic authorities to work to streamline arrangements across their area, for example, through a single set of highway design standards.
- Local Transport Authorities will be able to regulate on-street micromobility schemes (like hire bikes), so they can shape these schemes and tackle badly parked cycles and e-cycles.
- Subject to consultation, the government will devolve approval of local Lane Rental schemes to mayoral strategic authorities.
- Devolution of approvals for stopping up orders nationally, in line with London. These powers allow Local Highway Authorities to permanently close roads, subject to planning consent. Other minor road consents will be devolved to mayors and local highway authorities and changes to tolls on certain tolled undertakings will be devolved to mayors.
- National Highways will be asked to reconfigure how they work so that the national and the local work seamlessly to benefit the public. EMSA will be able to propose that they are responsible for future initiatives that fall within their area of responsibility, effectively giving them first refusal on new policy initiatives where appropriate.
Devolution to local transport authorities
The government intends to:
- Remove requirements for secretary of state consent to applications for Special Event Orders, dropped kerbs, conversions of footpaths to cycle tracks, and the construction of cattle grids, as well as exploring further the devolution of traffic enforcement powers.
- Further simplify local transport funding matched to the key transport modes and functions.
- Set an expectation to develop an electric vehicle chargepoint strategy - potentially done within the Local Transport Plan.
- The government will legislate so that Mayors are able to appoint ‘commissioners’ who would be able to support the delivery of key functions such as transport, similar to the London model.
Integrated settlements for EMSAs
EMSAs will be granted an integrated settlement whereby funding can be moved at local will between policy areas. The eligibility rules for EMSA status are:
- The mayoral strategic authority (or predecessor mayoral strategic authorities) has been in existence, with a directly elected mayor in place, for at least 18 months.
- The strategic authority has a published Local Assurance Framework in place.
- In the previous 18 months, the strategic authority has not been the subject of a Best Value Notice, a MHCLG commissioned independent review, or a statutory inspection or intervention.
- The strategic authority is not subject to any ongoing (or implementing) recommendations from an externally mandated independent review; and
- There are no material accounting concerns covering the current or previous financial year which relate to the strategic authority’s ability to manage public money.
The combined authorities of Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, the North East, South Yorkshire, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire have already met these criteria and MHCLG said these authorities would receive integrated settlements, likely at the next spending review in the spring.
Such a settlement could also be applied to London from 2026-27.
The scope of EMSA's integrated settlements will be confirmed at each Spending Review 'on the basis of functional responsibilities, and their value by a formulaic process'.
'Integrated settlements will have a single systematised approach to spending controls and a single, streamlined, overarching assurance and accountability framework co-ordinated by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government,' the white paper states.
Housing and planning
Strategic Authorities and Mayors will be granted new powers:
- All areas will have to produce a Spatial Development Strategy, which will be adopted with support from a majority of constituent members.
- Mayors will also be given new development management powers, similar to those exercised by the Mayor of London. This will include the ability to call in planning applications of strategic importance.
- Mayors will be able to charge developers a Mayoral Levy to ensure that new developments come with the necessary associated infrastructure - a Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy was introduced in Greater London in 2012 to help finance the Elizabeth Line.
- Ministers will increase Homes England’s accountability to Mayors and, as part of this, over time move Homes England to a more regionalised model responsive to local needs.
- The government will further ensure that Mayors have the funding they need to deliver on their housing ambitions, with control of grant funding for regeneration and housing delivery.
- EMSAs will also have the ability to set the strategic direction of any future affordable housing programme.
