Andy Burnham made a speech on regional devolution within the devolved nations during a visit to North Lanarkshire in Scotland today. 

The Prime Minister explained how his “Rewiring the State” agenda, which aims to shift power, funding and accountability away from Westminster to regional mayors and local leaders, is a UK-wide policy. 

He said “all the nations that make up the UK are too inequal internally”, and called for the Scottish Government to develop “a new model of regional empowerment for Scotland, ensuring communities with their own strengths, identity and ambitions can seize new economic opportunities and unlock their potential”.

Laura Hughes, Partner and Head of Public Law at UK and Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson, works with the Welsh Government as well as combined authorities in England. 

She said: “While the government’s pledge to go further and faster on devolution has been welcomed by local leaders in England, there have been major concerns within the core cities in the devolved nations that England is the only show in town for this particular policy and the money that flows with it.

“There will therefore be some relief among this audience that in making a commitment to work with the Scottish Government on shifting funding and powers to local areas, the Prime Minister appears to have opened the door for deeper devolution across the UK and the subsequent investment. 

“However, his comments are not likely to have landed so well with the devolved nations. Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Jenny Gilruth, made a pointed response that the First Minister has been on record for several months saying he wishes to work with the Prime Minister on this issue, and the further devolution of powers to the Scottish Government. This reflects similar comments made by the Welsh First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, at the Welsh Local Government Association Conference, that Andy Burnham needs to engage directly with the Welsh Government on the question of both regional devolution and more powers for Wales.

“Fundamentally, as questions of local government are devolved to Scotland and Wales, the Prime Minister can’t state that the policy of regional devolution is a UK-wide one. If devolution is to operate as the Prime Minister publicly states it should, with areas having control over their own affairs, his position of trying to dictate to devolved governments on this question is challenging.

“However, the upcoming Budget, in which a roadmap is expected to be provided for delivering greater fiscal devolution to English mayors, offers a golden opportunity for achieving this too in all the devolved nations. This would certainly ease discussions about wider regional devolution within those nations.”