Government chooses six areas for fast-track devolution, agrees to postpone elections to nine authorities

Six areas in England have been selected for the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme, with mayors to be elected by May 2026, the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has announced.

The six areas are:

• Cumbria
• Cheshire & Warrington
• Norfolk & Suffolk
• Greater Essex
• Sussex & Brighton
• Hampshire & Solent.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said consultations would be launched shortly.

The areas will become mayor-led strategic authorities by May next year if they proceed.

As part of this, the Government has agreed to half of the requests made by local authorities to postpone elections due in May next year to May 2026. Those permitted to do so are in the following areas:

• East Sussex and West Sussex
• Essex and Thurrock
• Hampshire and the Isle of White
• Norfolk and Suffolk

“These councils made the strongest possible case that this is strictly necessary to deliver both reorganisation and devolution to the most ambitious timeframe,” the Ministry said.

It added that county elections for Surrey would be postponed by a year “given the urgency of creating sustainable unitary local government” for the area.

Local elections will take place as scheduled in all other areas.

The MHCLG also noted that legislation came into force today (5 February) to establish four new devolution institutions, as a result of devolution agreements reached last year.

They are two new mayoral authorities in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire, and combined county authorities in Devon and Torbay, and Lancashire.

The Ministry added that all 21 councils in two-tier areas and small neighbouring unitary authorities are now being formally invited to develop unitary proposals by March.

The Deputy Prime Minister said: “The truth is that for all the promises of levelling up, central government’s first instinct is all too often to hoard power and hold our economy back. Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few.

“We promised to achieve a devolution revolution by overseeing the greatest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation, and today’s announcement will help raise living standards, improve public services and build the homes we so desperately need.

“By taking a common-sense approach to reorganisation, boosted by our reforms to give mayors a suite of vital new powers, we will make sure areas can truly deliver on our Plan for Change.”

Commenting on the announcements, Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association, said: “Today’s announcement on local elections as part of local government reorganisation, and which areas will be fast-tracked for devolution, will remove the uncertainty for local areas affected but the tight deadline for them to submit detailed proposals is challenging. We recognise that there will be those who are disappointed too.”

She added that the LGA would continue to press the Government to provide further clarity on aspects of the reforms and timelines for devolution and local government reorganisation, including for those whose bids had not been approved as part of this initial priority programme.

Cllr Gittins said: “Government also needs to commit to funding councils up front to deliver on these reforms. Areas that have already gone through LGR have relied heavily on reserves to unitarise and some estimations for one-off costs range from £25 to £100 million. It is imperative that any new unitary councils are financially viable, and able to provide sustainable services for communities in the long term.

“We want every council in England to have the ability to secure devolution that works for them, their local economies and their residents. However, devolution is not an end in itself and cannot distract from the severe funding pressures that are pushing local services to the brink. It is vital the forthcoming Spending Review provides all councils with a significant and sustained increase in overall funding that reflects current and future demand for services.”

Cllr Tim Oliver, Chairman of the County Councils Network (CCN), described the Government announcement as “a statement of intent” to drive forward reform to the two-tier system and deliver more mayors this parliament.

He said given the Government’s clear policy direction, most CCN members now recognised the need to embrace the benefits of mayoral devolution, “while it is also clear that local government reorganisation is necessary to unlock the barriers to more ambitious devolution settlements whilst creating simpler and more efficient council structures that are financially sustainable and recognisable to the public”.

Cllr Oliver added: “In taking forward several county and unitary authorities for the devolution priority programme and fast track reorganisation, the government is providing an important opportunity for these areas to progress plans to the most ambitious timetable. However, we also recognise that many areas will be disappointed they have not been selected for these programmes, having responded quickly to the government’s tight timescales to progress at an accelerated timescale. Ultimately it is a government decision to delay elections and ministers have set a high bar.

“There is clearly an appetite from many more county and unitary councils to move quickly and deliver devolution this Parliament. The government must continue to work with those county and unitary authorities to develop devolution and reorganisation proposals, with a clear commitment to deliver these as soon as possible.

“In doing so, the statutory invite for local government reorganisation issued today to all two-tier areas provides confirmation of the expectation they must progress interim plans for new unitary councils by March. We strongly welcome this clarity and the new criteria for what credible reorganisation plans should look like, building on the 500,000-population minimum in the Devolution White Paper.”

The District Councils Network (DCN) meanwhile criticised the timings for reorganisation.

“This rapid deadline – and the cancellation of county council elections for many millions of people – offers local residents no opportunity to discuss whether they want to be run by mega councils with populations in excess of half a million people,” it said.

The DCN repeated its assertion that the Government had admitted that it has no recent or independent evidence supporting reorganisation into councils covering a population of more than 500,000. It also noted that the proposals were not in the Labour manifesto.

Cllr Sam Chapman-Allen, Chairman of the DCN, said: “We would support reorganisation that improves services, offers value to taxpayers and ensures local government remains local – but the mad rush to impose mega councils of at least half a million people on local areas will thwart all these goals.

“Reorganisation should offer an opportunity to rethink the entire local public sector so it works better for service users and offers lasting savings to taxpayers. But the speed demanded by the Government will lead to these important issues being sidelined – and we could be stuck with a sub-optimal outcome for many decades.”

Cllr Chapman-Allen added: “The cancellation of local democracy means voters cannot give their verdict on whether they want mega councils. The rapid timescale of reorganisation will cut out the public and local businesses from the debate almost entirely. District councils, which proudly run local elections, would be prepared to oversee them in all of our areas this year to maintain local democracy.

“District councils believe in the value of local democracy. We would get systems better designed to respond to the challenges of coming decades by asking our communities, our businesses and our partner organisations what they need from us and by working together to build something new and exciting. Instead, we’re repeating a model of mergers to create mega councils when the Government admits it has done no analysis to demonstrate the benefits.

“The crazy timescale to force through mega councils will benefit no one apart from consultants – they’re in for a field day as councils have little capacity to do the work required within the timescales demanded by the Government.”

Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive of thinktank LGIU, said: “Today’s announcement will get a mixed reception within the sector. Those areas that have been selected for the Devolution Priority Programme will be pleased, others may feel rather bruised.

“Councils were given 16 working days to put their applications together for the Devolution Priority Programme. Countless hours were spent by council staff and elected members who worked incredibly hard over the Christmas period to meet this deadline. 

“Today, we found out that less than half have been successful. It is essential that we understand more about the decision-making process around this as there will undoubtedly be some places that feel they have been marched up the hill and then marched down again having spent considerable amounts of time and political capital getting to this point."

Carr-West added: “For those areas that are going forward there remain significant political, financial and logistical obstacles to overcome. While a route to devolution remains open to them they will have to work hard to maintain momentum.

“The Government has been keen to stress that devolution is about empowering local areas. Right now, it doesn't feel that way. So far the process has been about central government setting out the rules of the game and picking winners. This is an irony we will need to resolve.”