English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill receives Royal Assent

The Act includes measures that will give Mayoral Combined Authorities further devolved powers over transport, planning, housing, and economic regeneration.

It also establishes Local Scrutiny Committees for mayoral authorities, which will provide scrutiny of local public spending and decision-making.

Further measures relating to mayors include mandating Mayoral Strategic Authorities to develop local growth plans, aligning regional economic strategies with national policy.

A new bespoke duty for mayors and strategic authorities to ensure they formally consider local health improvement and health inequalities when making policy decisions will also be introduced.

Mayors will be able to intervene in planning applications of potential strategic importance, make mayoral development orders and charge a mayoral community infrastructure levy on developers.

In addition, the Act will establish the Local Audit Office, which the Government said will help manage council finances, ensuring auditing is carried out more efficiently and transparently.

On roads, the legislation introduces 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.

The Act meanwhile introduces new powers for local transport authorities to enforce against dangerous pavement parking including through fixed penalty notices - and there will be new licensing powers for rental e-bikes, which will allow local authorities to set specific requirements on parking, safety, and accessibility standards.

Elsewhere, the Act includes a new Community Right to Buy, aimed at giving local people the first right of refusal for valued community assets such as shops and community centres when they are put up for sale.

Gambling Impact Assessments will be introduced to address the proliferation of gambling shops on the high street, so councils can prevent new gambling shops from opening.

Upwards Only Rent Review clauses in new and renewal commercial leases will also be banned, which previously prevented businesses’ rents from decreasing - even if the market rate decreased - for new commercial rental agreements.

Adam Carey