Devolution, like reorganisation, is a zombie issue – not really alive but not fully dead and refusing to do either properly.
But, two things are certain. First, whatever comes to English local government will not match devolution to Scotland and Wales and, given the absence of an English Parliament, England will stay short-changed in the devolution stakes.
Second, what we will continue to see is not devolution, but decentralisation.
This is not a semantic point. A range of tasks, functions, responsibilities and budgets have been decentralised to new sub-national structures – combined authorities – but no greater autonomy, freedom or political powers has come with them.
Traditional local government, by contrast, has been almost overlooked in the process; councils have brokered devolution deals but combined authorities have benefited from the flow of central responsibilities.
My research among councillors shows extensive cross-party and independent enthusiasm for a flow of responsibilities and freedoms to local government but frustrations and scepticism about the process and the Government’s willingness to devolve to local government.
“Councillors want to see major services delivered, organised and run by local government”
Councillors criticised the process as:
- top-down controlled by central government
- lacking capacity to negotiate effectively with groups of councils
- requiring councils to guess or
- second-guess government intentions and decisions
- heavily focused on structure
- having a growth imperative rather than a commitment to genuine all-round devolution
- unsupported across government departments.
Councillors expressed concern that, while responsibilities best run locally are shifted from the centre, the resources and autonomy required to develop those responsibilities to local needs is not forthcoming.
Councillors want to see major public services delivered, organised, overseen and run by local government to make those services more responsive and nimble, and while political differences exist about organisation and delivery mechanisms, that is down to local political choice.
Decentralisation and less central interference win support from councillors across the spectrum. But there is no settled will about devolution of power and autonomy to local government, the ability to differ from central policy or having the same local legislative powers many international local government systems have where municipalities can pass binding local legislation far more powerful than by-laws.
Around 90 per cent of councillors in England are from the three main parties. So reluctance to grant political autonomy to opponents in other councils or to see local legislation passed by another council with which councillors elsewhere disagree, makes a frustrating sense but also underpins our centralised system.
There is great appetite among councillors for local control and oversight of services and service delivery, but far less for being an autonomous political and governing institution.
The challenge to councillors and central government is to focus on the ‘government’ in local government and accept that localities should and will do things differently to the centre and each other in organising and delivering services.
Political choice may see different local laws, financing regimes and taxation powers exist across the country – it will drive the centre mad. But that’s devolution.