Devolution to local government in England

This House of Commons Library briefing paper summarised the main developments regarding the process of devolution of powers to local government within England since 2014. It covered the devolution deals agreed between the UK Government and local areas up to July 2016, including the powers to be devolved, the procedures required for devolution to take place, and reactions to the policy from the local government and policy-making worlds.

The first ‘devolution deal’ was announced by the Government and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in November 2014. In advance of the 2015 general election, further deals followed with Sheffield (December 2014) and West Yorkshire (March 2015). As of March 2016, devolution deals with twelve areas had been agreed. Discussions had also taken place on further devolution to Greater London.

United Kingdom: House of Commons: Library: Briefing Paper: Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/citiesandlocalgovernmentdevolution.html

ESO: Background information: The English Question http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-english-question-commons-library-standard-note/

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