The Scottish referendum started a flurry of debate around the potential of ‘wrestling more power from Whitehall’.
To-date, the debate seems to have focused around what devolution might mean for city and county authorities who have been quick to set out their wish-lists for additional powers. But, devolution should be about place and make sense for communities and not be a tool to re-ignite a rather tired structures debate.
Districts have to be at the table of devolution discussions. The evidence has been stacking up that working in collaboration and as key drivers of multi-agency delivery, districts are a fundamental part of future public services delivery.
Districts are frequently at the forefront of working in new and innovative ways, with close to 700 shared service agreements in place involving districts, and many quick to take the lead in the development of the commercialisation of services.
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