UK Inquiry Tracker

Progress on devolution in England

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 9 Mar 2020 Closed: 2 Mar 2022 Parliament page

Relaunched inquiry: Progress of Devolution in England The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has relaunched its inquiry into progress on devolution in England. The inquiry will scrutinise the impact of recently agreed devolution agreements and ask if the transfer of further powers to England’s regions can boost local economies … Read more Relaunched inquiry: Progress of Devolution in England The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has relaunched its inquiry into progress on devolution in England. The inquiry will scrutinise the impact of recently agreed devolution agreements and ask if the transfer of further powers to England’s regions can boost local economies and provision of public services. Since 2014, cities and regions including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Cornwall have successfully negotiated bespoke devolution deals with the Governments. London gained greater devolved powers following the establishment of an assembly in 2000. Each devolution deal involves its own arrangements for funding and increased responsibilities, but can include greater powers over areas including business support, planning, transport and health. London, and eight of the ten areas with newly agreed devolution deals, established directly elected mayors to oversee the implementation of new powers. The inquiry will examine the impact of devolving increased powers in the cities and regions where deals have been agreed, and consider how any benefits can be realised in more areas of the country. It will investigate the effectiveness of the current strategy of developing bespoke deals region by region, and ask if increasing available powers without wider systemic changes would produce similar benefits. The Committee will investigate the roles of directly elected mayors, quality of scrutiny in decision making and public accountability. Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Clive Betts MP commented: “The approach the Government has taken is to develop bespoke arrangements for different areas, both in terms of the powers devolved to them and the administrative systems to execute them. We have launched this inquiry to understand the impact of the current approach. Has tailoring devolution to each locality improved decision making, the local economy and public services? “Most importantly, we want to discover what opportunities there are for improving outcomes across the country. Notably in areas such as transport and health where provision doesn’t match existing local government structures, but also in improving the local economy, environment and infrastructure. We will be looking to see how improved devolution can boost cities and regions, and how it can be implemented more quickly.” Evidence received for the inquiry in the previous Parliament can be found here . Show less

19 Recommendations

4 Conclusions

1 Report

5 Oral sessions

2 Letters

5 Events

Activity timeline 14 events

1 Mar
2022

Report published

Progress on Devolution in England: Government response to the Select Committee report

1 Mar
2022

Correspondence

Letter from the Minister for Levelling Up, the Union and Constitution to the Chair dated 24 February 2022 concerning the Government's respo…

1 Oct
2021

Report published

Fourth Report - Progress on devolution in England

29 Jan
2021

Correspondence

Letter from the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government to the Chair dated 22 January 2021 providing an update on the Government'…

25 Jan
2021

Oral evidence

25 Jan
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Virtual meeting

Formal evidence

30 Nov
2020

Oral evidence

30 Nov
2020

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster

Formal evidence

7 Sep
2020

Oral evidence

Evidence session; Oral evidence

7 Sep
2020

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Evidence session

22 Jun
2020

Oral evidence

Oral evidence; Oral Evidence

22 Jun
2020

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Virtual meeting

Formal meeting

Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions

25 Jan 2021

View on parliament.uk

Oral evidence

Cllr James Jamieson · Local Government Association (LGA) Rt Hon Greg Clark The Lord Kerslake · UK2070 Commission

30 Nov 2020

View on parliament.uk

Oral evidence

Amy Harhoff · Durham County Council David Williams · Hertfordshire County Council James Palmer · Herbert Smith Freehills Jamie Driscoll · North of Tyne Combined Authority

7 Sep 2020

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Evidence session; Oral evidence

Andrew Carter · Centre for Cities Bill McCarthy · NHS England Guy Ware · London Councils Helen Charlesworth-May · Cornwall Council Kate Kennally · Cornwall Council Mr David Phillips · Institute for Fiscal Studies Sir Richard Leese CBE · Manchester City Council

22 Jun 2020

View on parliament.uk

Oral evidence; Oral Evidence

Abdool Kara · National Audit Office Andrew Walker · Local Government Information Unit Jim Hubbard · CBI Mike Short · UNISON Mr Ed Hammond · Centre for Public Scrutiny Simon Parkinson · Workers’ Education Association

16 Mar 2020

View on parliament.uk

Progress on devolution in England

Dr John Stanton · City, University of London Professor Colin Copus · De Montfort University Professor Francesca Gains · University of Manchester

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Fourth Report - Progress on devolution in England	HC 36	1 Oct 2021	23	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

23 results

1 Conclusion

Fourth Report - Progress on devolu…

There has been important progress with devolution in England since our predecessor committee’s report in...

There has been important progress with devolution in England since our predecessor committee’s report in 2016. But further progress can and should be made over the course of this Parliament. The remainder of this report sets out our recommended next … Read more

Government Response

Since the Committee’s last report in 2016, some progress towards decentralisation has recently been made. Over 40% of the English population now live in areas with directly elected city region … Read more

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Progress on devolution in England

Activity timeline 14 events

Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

There has been important progress with devolution in England since our predecessor committee’s report in...

Devolution across the United Kingdom has been pursued for different purposes, and its scope, structure,...

To embed devolution at the heart of central government the new Secretary of State for...

The lack of transparency and public engagement in the negotiation of devolution deals have not...

We approve of the principle of a devolution framework.

Instead of using Greater Manchester as a yardstick, all existing places with devolution deals should...

We reiterate our recommendation from our recent report into local authority financial sustainability that the...

Financial devolution is necessary to ensure the success of devolution through giving devolved authorities greater...

The Government should commission research into how income tax or other national tax revenue could...

The Committee has persistently sought clarity from the Government about how the UK Shared Prosperity...

A sustainable approach to local government funding requires longer term budgetary arrangements and discretion for...

We retain our predecessor committee’s scepticism about whether health devolution accurately describes the current arrangements...

The devolution of the adult education budget should be part of the devolution framework, accompanied...

The devolution framework should provide for the devolution to combined and local authorities of the...

The Government should consider the case for extending powers for Transport for London-style oversight of...

We have heard, both in this inquiry and our inquiry into local government and the...

Devolution should not be restricted solely to urban areas.

There was a lack of consensus on the merits of moving to unitary authorities and...

The devolution framework should clarify the relationship of local authorities with combined authorities.

There is no consensus on the optimum structure for scrutiny in a devolved authority, including...

Scrutiny committees for combined authorities has been hindered by strict quorum rules.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman expressed concerns about its oversight of combined authorities,...

There is a need for more data about combined authority and other sub-national areas.

Correspondence 2 letters