Institute for Government urges ministers to “complete the devolution map”

Devolution has so far left a patchwork of combined authorities and other kinds of devolution deals across England but with large areas not yet covered.

In a report Completing the Map, the IfG said devolution had unfolded unevenly and large swathes of England – including cities such as Stoke, Southampton, Hull and Leicester, and almost all non-metropolitan areas – lacked devolved powers.

Labour has committed to widening devolution and has invited proposals, which meant ministers “now face a set of tricky decisions about what the geography of new devolution arrangements should be and which places to prioritise”, the report said.

Ministers had a strategic choice between smaller, simpler, county-based deals and larger regional arrangements.

The IfG said it should be an explicit objective to complete the devolution map as more consistent devolution could help Labour achieve its growth objectives and leave Whitehall to focus on national strategic matters.

To do this, the Government should move from the bespoke deal-making previously used to a more consistent ‘off-the-shelf’ offer, although it would be unrealistic to expect all areas to take on the same devolved powers at one time.

The IfG said ministers should prioritise places that score highly on: unfulfilled economic growth potential; local political readiness to take on devolved powers; willingness to make governance reforms - including adopting mayoral leadership or forming a combined authority.

Many areas lacked an agreed geography for devolution and the IfG argued that a fully ‘bottom-up’ approach would be unlikely to see the map completed,”so ministers have to stand prepared to take the final decisions over boundaries”.

Boundaries should be left undisturbed for existing combined authorities and Greater London and agreed mayoral devolution deals should proceed, it said.

Elsewhere, the IfG said Cheshire, Cumbria, Essex and Kent should gain devolved powers based on historic county footprints and so including adjacent unitary councils where relevant.

It also called for a Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland mayoral combined authority and for the West of England Combined Authority to include North Somerset.

Areas in the south that lacked historic or geographical boundaries would need devolution deals brokered.

The IfG suggested deals should cover the Thames Valley, South East Midlands, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and ‘Historic Sussex’ and in other cases historic county boundaries.

Mark Smulian