The Scottish referendum has placed the devolution spotlight firmly on England so in February 2015 we invited an influential group to join us at our London offices to discuss the issue of greater devolution from central to local government.
The report from this meeting is now available to view.
Exploring the issue of greater devolution from the centre raises many fundamental questions.
Whilst all the major political parties have expressed their support for the principles of localism what does this actually mean when it comes to the devolution debate? What are the chances that central government and Whitehall civil servants will relinquish their long held powers? As the squeeze on public funds is set to remain in place for the time being, what are the prospects for greater fiscal devolution? In particular greater powers to raise taxes and borrow money seems likely to remain a pipedream. As local councils in some of our biggest cities come together to form combined authorities what does the future hold for Local Enterprise Partnerships and City Deals?
Chaired by Sir Paul Jenkins, the former Treasury Solicitor, our roundtable discussed these issues and many more with influential commentators and stakeholders including Graham Allen, MP for Nottingham North, as well as representatives from the City Growth Commission, CBI, Grant Thornton, Hampshire County Council, LGiU, Local Partnerships LLP and University College London.
Our report, the path to greater regional devolution, highlights some of the key themes that emerged from the roundtable discussion and by publishing this thought leadership paper we hope it will stimulate a wide ranging debate on the issue.
Download our report