Devolution and coastal areas

For far too long coastal areas have been on the periphery of government policy and investment. Opportunities for economic growth and diversification have been largely ignored. Critical infrastructure for digital connectivity, transport, health, education and social purposes has been underinvested in. Meanwhile, coastal local authorities, often lacking sufficient backing from central government, are left trying to perform miracles to change the trajectory for their communities.

The government’s devolution agenda will give future mayors powers to tackle these issues head on, but they will need the right policies in place to ensure coastal areas receive the equitable support needed to turn things around.

Decentralisation must reach our coastline

By almost every metric going, the UK is the most centralised nation in the G7. It also has the highest levels of regional inequality; investment, innovation, productivity and growth are disproportionately weighted to London and the surrounding South-East.

Our regions have fallen behind, and nowhere is that felt more than on our coastline. The 10 most deprived areas in the latest Index of Multiple Deprivation are coastal, while half of the top 50 such areas are within the boundaries of coastal local authorities, many of which have witnessed the collapse of key industries such as domestic tourism, shipbuilding and fishing, along with insufficient national policy initiatives and funding to aid their recovery.

The consequences of these failings can be seen across wellbeing metrics, with coastal communities suffering from disproportionately poor health outcomes: according to the UK’s Chief Medical Officer, coastal residents are 15% more likely to die early from preventable causes. Things need to change. But can they?

Another round of devolution to deliver regional growth

The government seeks to transform the fortunes of less affluent areas through the creation of a new devolution framework, transferring power from Whitehall into ‘strategic authorities’, be that a combined authority, a combined county authority, or a single authority. Such transferred powers include economic development and regeneration, transport and infrastructure, housing and strategic planning.

It is believed this approach will drive local growth, since regional leaders will be able to use their local knowledge along with an increased freedom to make decisions, allocate resources, and use funding to further regional rather than simply national priorities.

However, a recent survey we conducted among senior local government professionals found that a key concern with devolution was that things may actually get worse rather than better, with fears of strategic investment and decisions being channelled towards urban centres. The potential loss of physical local leadership in coastal areas due to the underpinning local government regeneration (LGR) programme was another worry.

In order to mitigate the risks of devolution and maximise opportunities for coastal areas, we believe four policy shifts must be actioned:  

1. Mayors need a coastal perspective to make effective decisions

In a 2022 interview with the University of Harvard, the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said that the Green Book tests, which control public spending, had led to a situation where “the country was hardwired to give more to the areas that already had most”. The risk for mayors – who will have a legal duty under s.19 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (the bill) when it becomes law to provide an annual report to Parliament on how they are using powers to better their region – is that the approach Burnham mentions trickles down to a regional level, with funding and decisions supporting larger urban centres, while excluding the coastal and rural areas which may well need greater intervention.

This is not to say that urban areas don’t need investment. But it is important for there to be an equitable use of powers and funds to benefit the entire region. This will only happen if coastal areas are represented at the top table, ensuring any decisions taken no longer exclude coastal perspectives.

There are two immediate ways to ensure this. First, the bill should be amended to enable mayors to appoint a ‘Coast and Country Commissioner’. These would act as specialist advisors to the mayor on coastal and rural issues, meaning that big decisions always factor in the unique opportunities and challenges impacting these areas. Secondly, and inextricably linked, Clause 2 of the bill should be amended to include ‘Coastal and Country Affairs’ to the list of competencies a mayor has, to enable equitable and informed decisions to be made.

2. Strategic plans must take a holistic view of a region, including their coastline

The bill requires all mayoral-led strategic authorities, apart from the Greater London Assembly, to produce a Local Growth Plan (LGP). An LGP must identify an area’s current economic condition, its priorities for economic growth, and the key projects for achieving economic growth through private and/or public investment. The LGP is critical; it is the ‘guiding star’ that provides the strategic direction for all other relevant plans and policy, including the spatial development strategies, which play a key role in growing regional economies and identifying regeneration priorities.

It is also imperative that in the process of creating the LGP, mayors consider their region as a whole, not just the larger economic centres such as urban cities and towns. All too often central government growth plans have focused on major cities or national priorities, resulting in missed opportunities for coastal areas to grow new ‘blue economies’ via sectors such as clean energy, carbon capture, marine protected areas, improved tourism and hospitality.

The government also needs to support strategic authorities with sufficient funding to back the latter’s ambition and ensure they are not left with all the responsibility and none of the ability to effect change.

3. LGR must not exacerbate deprivation issues faced by coastal communities  

Two-tier local government structures, where functions are split between county and district councils, are due to be replaced by single-tier unitary councils across England. By 1 April 2028, the 317 local authorities in England will be cut to between 150 and 187. This will have a significant impact on coastal areas. Some 33 local authorities have their headquarters in a coastal town or city, and of these 24 are going through the LGR process, with only Brighton and Hove City Council and Plymouth City Council guaranteed to survive. The remaining 22 authorities are subject to proposals, or multiple proposals, which will replace them with a bigger unitary covering a larger geographical area. However, based on the strength of some proposals, we expect councils such as Torbay to continue, albeit perhaps with a larger area to cover.

A consequence of this process is that some coastal towns/cities will lose the physical presence of their local authority. For example, if five councils are being replaced by a unitary one, there obviously won’t be a need for five town halls. If the new unitary decides to base its operations elsewhere then there will be a major problem in the making for coastal towns/cities. Local authorities in all 22 areas feature high on the list of the largest employers in their communities, so for areas like Clacton-on-Sea, Hastings, Blackpool and others already grappling with higher levels of deprivation and lower levels of productivity and growth, the potential loss of jobs from the reorganisation process would be devastating to the community and its prospects.

Even if staff survive the inevitable job cuts that will come with LGR, there is no guarantee that commuting to their new base of operations would be viable, given the length of some commutes and with public transport links being far from reliable. Shadow authorities will need to consider not just how to optimise their operations when deciding on which property to retain or dispose of, but also the impact any closures will have on the areas for which they are responsible.

4. LGR must not leave coastal areas feeling cut off from decision-making

Replacing smaller, more local councils with unitary authorities covering bigger areas will result in fewer councillors per resident, and potentially greater distances to travel to access them. Councillors will meanwhile have responsibility for larger areas, making it harder to connect to the key issues and opportunities facing coastal communities.

The English Devolution White Paper and subsequent government communications have confirmed that ministers expect new unitaries to be proactive and innovative in their approach to neighbourhood involvement and community governance in order to bridge this gap.

The preferred structure at the moment seems to be Neighbourhood Area Committees, led by frontline ward councillors. Clause 58(3) of the bill allows the government to bring forward regulations setting out “specified organisational structures for the governance of neighbourhood areas”, yet regulations have yet to be published. Clarity is needed well in advance of vesting of the new unitaries, bar Surrey, in 2028. 

There is no doubt that given the centralised state of the UK, the devolution and LGR agenda being proposed to unlock growth across England is an honourable ambition. However, if it is to be successful, we must ensure there are protections in place to deliver for the 10 million people living along our coastline. 

Christopher Kerr is Head of ESG at Davitt Jones Bould.