The number of combined and county authorities is increasing
Alongside a swathe of new councillors, May’s local elections returned a record number of combined authority or ‘metro’ mayors in England.
In addition to elections in most of the pre-existing combined authorities, there were three new first-time mayors – in the East Midlands, the North East, and York and North Yorkshire.
In total, there are now 12 combined authorities with devolved powers and an elected mayor, together covering half the population of England.
The 12 include the Greater London Authority, albeit this was set up earlier, in 2000, and under different arrangements from the others.
But while mayoral changes dominated the news headlines around the 2 May elections, devolution is extending well beyond city regions, to English counties and unitaries.
“The UK remains one of the most centralised countries in Europe”
The LGA has long argued that decisions about local services should be taken closer to the people, communities and businesses they affect.
There is clear and significant evidence that outcomes improve and the country gets better value for money when local government has the freedoms and funding to make local decisions.
The UK remains one of the most centralised countries in Europe and, without devolution – the transfer of powers and funding – from national to local government, decisions will continue to be made in Westminster, removed from the communities that they affect.
The early mayoral ‘deals’ with government had a common focus on driving local economic growth, providing for the decentralisation of powers over skills and transport policy, the creation of a ‘single pot’ to support local investment, and the ability to raise additional revenue through financial instruments such as a mayoral precept.
The initial cohort of combined authorities were set up around existing transport authorities and local partnership arrangements between their constituent councils. Once legislation allowed, these arrangements were developed further.
Trail-blazing Greater Manchester was formed in 2011, followed by West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and Liverpool City Region in 2014; Tees Valley and West Midlands in 2016; West of England, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, in 2017; and North of the Tyne in 2019.
These nine combined authorities in the main consist of all the councils within their geographical areas. Most of those constituent councils have similar powers and are upper tier.
However, each combined authority is unique in its own powers and in the different arrangements with its constituent authorities – and any other lower-tier authorities that fall within the area.
“Devolution is extending well beyond city regions, to English counties and unitaries”
North of the Tyne has since disbanded and reformed with County Durham to create the new North East Combined Authority, with its first mayor elected on 2 May 2024.
This year’s other two new combined authorities – East Midlands, and York and North Yorkshire – also differ from the initial cohort.
The former consists of two counties (Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire) and two unitary cities (Derby and Nottingham). However, it cannot function without working in partnership with the 15 district and borough councils in its geographical area.
In North Yorkshire, the former county council went unitary, absorbing all its district councils in advance of its bid for devolution alongside the City of York.
York and North Yorkshire is also unique in being the first combined authority to take on police and fire and rescue services as part of its inaugural set-up. South Yorkshire has just taken on these powers and consequently its elections were brought forward to this year.
Next year, a further two new combined authorities (Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire) and two new county deals (Norfolk and Suffolk) will hold elections for their inaugural mayors or elected leaders.
Meanwhile, several other councils and areas have reached devolution deals that provide them with additional powers without the requirement for an elected mayor or leader.
These include Cornwall, which has renegotiated its existing devolution deal to secure additional powers for the unitary council and its leader; Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire and Surrey, where the powers will reside with the respective county council and its leader; and Greater Devon (Devon and Torbay) and Lancashire (Lancashire, Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwin), where leaders will need to agree a combined authority and partnership arrangement.
Looking to the future, whether a combined authority has a mayor or works in partnership with its constituent councils’ leaders, their main challenge will be to ensure that all the authorities that sit below the upper tier ones are included and able to participate fairly.
The mayors’ or leaders’ key role is to build relationships with all their constituent and non-constituent local authorities – so everyone understands what a combined authority is and the benefits that it can bring to an area, and to ensure a holistic approach to developing the plans and strategies needed to deliver economic and social prosperity regionally and locally.
- To find out more, please visit the LGA’s devolution hub.