| Short Title: | Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to make provision for the election of mayors for the areas of, and for conferring additional functions on, combined authorities established under Part 6 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009; to make other provision in relation to bodies established under that Part; to make provision about local authority governance and functions; to confer power to establish, and to make provision about, sub-national transport bodies; and for connected purposes. |
| Year: | 2016 |
| Statute Book Chapter: | 2016 c. 1 |
| Introduced Lords: | Baroness Williams of Trafford |
| Introduced Commons: | Greg Clark |
| Territorial Extent: | England and Wales |
| Royal Assent: | 28 January 2016[1] |
| Commencement: | 28 January 2016[2] |
| Status: | Current |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/1/contents/enacted |
| Legislation History: | https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2015-16/citiesandlocalgovernmentdevolution.html |
| Revised Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/1/contents |
The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 (c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows for the introduction of directly elected mayors to combined authorities in England and Wales and the devolution of housing, transport, planning and policing powers to them.[3] [4] The bill was introduced to the House of Lords by Baroness Williams of Trafford, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 28 May 2015.[5]
The United Kingdom (UK) is a unitary state consisting of four countries. Devolution has been enacted for three of these countries (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) providing each with its own legislative assembly or parliament. However, this has not happened for England which continues to be administered by the Government of the United Kingdom and legislated for by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Proposals for the introduction of devolution to English regional governments were made at various points during the twentieth century. However, after a proposal for devolution to an elected North East Assembly was rejected in a referendum in North East England in 2004, the regional government approach was abandoned. Instead, the idea of devolution to smaller English "city regions" gained predominance, giving rise to calls for enabling legislation.
The main provisions of the Act are:[6]
The provisions in the Act are generic (applied by government order to specified combined authorities and their areas). It is expected to apply primarily to England's largest city-regions (the Core Cities Group). However, there could be instances where the devolution of powers could be agreed to "a single county" or other local government area where a combined authority is not in place, provided all the councils in that area are in agreement. Additionally local government reorganisation may be facilitated by the bill if local authorities in an area are willing and the proposal is agreed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
The legislation allowed Transport for the North to be put on an statutory footing and allowed for further sub-national transport bodies to be created.
A clause added to the bill in the House of Commons in December 2015 confers general powers on National Park authorities for National Parks in England, along similar lines to those conferred on other local authorities by the Localism Act 2011.[7]
A number of amendments were passed in the House of Lords despite opposition from the UK Government, but were partly overturned by the House of Commons.[8] These included:
In July 2015 the Communities and Local Government Committee announced that it would undertake an inquiry into the Bill during the autumn of 2015. The committee examined the lessons that could be learned from City Deals arranged in 2012-14, whether the GMCA devolution proposals provided a model for other areas, and how local accountability could be improved.[13] The committee's report was published in February 2016. It proposed:
The committee also believed "fiscal devolution to be essential to genuine devolution" and proposed an increase in the devolution of taxation and borrowing.
In July 2016 the Public Accounts Committee criticised the lack of clarity in the objectives and financial implications of devolution deals, as well as the shortage of local scrutiny arrangements.[14]
The Act takes the form of enabling legislation and requires negotiations between the UK government and local authorities (or groups of local authorities), known as devolution deals, to bring any transfer of budgets and/or powers into effect. The negotiation of such deals initially took place during 2014–15, and by September 2015 a total of 38 towns, cities, counties and regions had submitted devolution proposals to the government (including four bids from Scotland and Wales). However, many rural areas did not submit devolution proposals and in some places devolution was rejected by local councillors. By 2017 the process of making new deals appeared to have stalled.[15]
See also: Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Three agreements made between November 2014 and July 2015 led to proposals for the transfer of a number of powers and funding streams to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and other bodies in the Greater Manchester area, together with the creation of a directly elected mayor or "metro-mayor", a role similar that of the Mayor of London.[16] The mayor is to have powers over transport, housing, strategic planning and policing. At the same time the GMCA is to acquire new powers including some control over business growth as well as health and social care budgets.[17] In May 2015, Tony Lloyd was selected to be interim mayor by the GMCA. Devolution took place in 2017 following a Greater Manchester mayoral election, making Greater Manchester the first city region to do so.
Sheffield City Region Combined Authority came into being as a result of two agreements made between December 2014 and October 2015 proposing the transfer of powers and budgets over transport, planning, economic development, adult skills and business rates, with a directly elected mayor separate from the police and crime commissioner. The mayoralty covers four of the constituent members of the city region: the boroughs of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. Some of the devolution details are different from those in the case of Greater Manchester, and Health and Social Care are not to be transferred.[16] Devolution and elections were scheduled to take place in 2018[18] and in May 2018 Dan Jarvis was elected as the first mayor of the authority. The devolution of powers and funding have been delayed while Jarvis and the leaders of Barnsley and Doncaster councils seek a devolution deal for the whole of Yorkshire.[19]
An agreement announced in March 2015 proposed devolving to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority some powers over education and training, economic development, housing and transport.[16] The agreement was finalised in March 2020.[20]
In July 2015, devolution arrangements for Cornwall were announced. Cornwall was the first county in England to acquire powers devolved from London under the legislation. Cornwall Council (and the Council of the Isles of Scilly to a lesser degree) gained some new powers concerning transport, employment and skills, EU funding, business support, energy, health and social care, public estate, heritage and culture.[21] Cornwall was not required to elect a mayor[22] or form a combined authority.[16] Further devolution to Cornwall Council was agreed in 2023.[23]
Four other existing combined authorities applied for and were awarded devolution deals: Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, North East Combined Authority,[24] Tees Valley Combined Authority[24] and West Midlands Combined Authority. In addition three proposed new authorities and devolution agreements were announced in the 2016 United Kingdom budget: the East Anglia Combined Authority, the Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority and the West of England Combined Authority (Bristol and surrounding area). The proposed North Midlands Combined Authority also agreed a devolution deal.[25] [26]
However, failure to agree on the creation of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority[27] and the East Anglia Combined Authority[28] led to the formation of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority with its own devolution deal.[29] Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire have proposed the formation of a combined authority[30] but do not have agreement of the district councils.[31] A "Solent devolution bid" for a combined authority covering Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight was abandoned because consensus could not be reached.[32] A "Heart of Hampshire" devolution bid covering the rest of Hampshire county was similarly abandoned.[33] Proposals for devolution to Cumbria[34] and Greater Essex[35] were rejected by council leaders. Plans for devolution to a North Midlands combined authority incorporating Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire were dropped following changes to legislation in March 2016 that allowed borough councils the option of taking part in devolution deals in neighbouring counties.[36]
Other areas which have proposed devolution under this legislation include the London boroughs (putting forward plans for sub-regional devolution within London),[37] Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, North Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire, Surrey and Sussex, Cheshire and Warrington,[38] Devon and Somerset,[39] Dorset,[40] and Lancashire.[41]
In July 2016 the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced a new Finance Commission tasked with drawing up a "wide-ranging suite of devolution requests" for further devolution to Greater London.[42]
The adoption of directly elected mayors in English local government is part of a much larger, international trend on similar lines, with European countries such as Italy, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia already making use of elected mayors.[43] There has reportedly been widespread scepticism among existing local government leaders in England about the creation of the proposed directly elected mayors. However, most areas in England are not expected to have such mayors, meaning the majority of PCCs will remain.[4] This has prompted senior figures in county and district councils to raise concerns about a "two-speed" approach to devolution and the Local Government Association to call for devolution to all corners of England.[44] Sir Peter Soulsby, the city of Leicester's elected mayor, has said that it is important for rural areas not to be overlooked.[4]
The proposals to devolve Health and Social Care have raised questions of a financial and constitutional nature:[45]