The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill has received Royal Assent, introducing ‘strategic authorities' into law and giving their elected mayors more devolved powers over transport, planning, housing and economic regeneration.

The Act is the key legislation underpinning the Government's devolution and local government reorganisation agenda.

It will give more local transport authorities 'new powers to enforce against dangerous pavement parking, including through fixed penalty notices'.

There will also be new licensing powers for rental e-bikes, which will allow local authorities to set specific requirements on parking, safety, and accessibility standards, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said.

Further measures in the Act include:

  • Mandating Mayoral Strategic Authorities to develop local growth plans, aligning regional economic strategies with national policy.
  • New powers for Mayors to intervene in planning applications of potential strategic importance, make mayoral development orders and charge a mayoral community infrastructure levy on developers.
  • new national standards for taxi drivers, allowing enforcement officers to suspend licences issued by other local authorities where a driver is operating outside their licensed area.
  • A new bespoke duty for Mayors and Strategic Authorities to ensure they formally consider local health improvement and health inequalities when making policy decisions.
  • The establishment of the Local Audit Office to help manage council finances, ensuring auditing is carried out more efficiently and transparently.

Tom Arnold, policy manager for regional engagement and devolution at the Chartered Institute for Housing, said: 'The act develops a clear framework for devolution and sets a path towards all parts of England being represented by some form of strategic authority by the end of this Parliament.

'The measures included within the act have potential to help both mayors and strategic authorities, in tandem with local authorities, play a bigger role in delivering much-needed new homes and infrastructure.

'With the Integrated Settlements in place in established mayoral strategic authority areas providing greater financial certainty, we look forward to mayors and strategic authorities across England playing a major role in the planning and development of high quality new communities.

'In addition to these new planning powers, we welcome the duty – included in the act – for mayors and strategic authorities to ensure they formally consider local health and health inequalities when making policy decisions. Housing has an important role to play in improving health outcomes and preventing poor health, and local leaders now have more control over this important agenda.'