Power to the People? The Route to English Devolution

National and local political leaders, and publics alike, increasingly agree that English governance is over-centralised, and that more-or-less radical devolution is required. The prospect of a new government in 2024/5 arguably creates a unique opening and new impetus for a radical devolutionary settlement in England. But how can we best take advantage of this seemingly propitious moment? What can prevent a rapid reversion to the deeply embedded culture of centralism in England, where the statements and actions of ministers are prone to frequently and flatly contradicting devolutionary rhetoric? In this report, we consider five recent proposals for English devolution authored respectively by the Bennett Institute and Institute for Government, the Brown Commission on the UK’s Future, The Fabian Society, New Local and the Constitution Group and John Denham with the Constitution Group of the Society of Labour Lawyers – the latter in the form of a briefing on Labour’s shadow Take Back Control Bill. The report analyses the devolutionary potential in these proposals following fourteen criteria and organised into themes: power, money, governance and political culture. It then proceeds to consider the likelihood of implementation over the next two parliamentary terms. Tables 1-5 summarise our findings. The report concludes with recommendations for English devolution