The Government's devolution reforms represent more than a change in local government finance. They signal a fundamental shift in leadership accountability and governance across England's combined authorities. By making designated chief executives personally responsible for value for money and the proper use of public funds, while enabling genuinely pooled place-based budgets, the reforms create a new operating environment that will reshape what is required of combined authority chief executives and their statutory officers.
For many years, devolution has focused on transferring powers and funding from Whitehall to local areas. The next phase appears to be different. Alongside greater freedoms comes a stronger expectation that local leaders will take direct responsibility for outcomes, stewardship and public value. In effect, combined authority chief executives may find themselves occupying a role that increasingly mirrors the responsibilities of permanent secretaries within central government.
From strategic convenor to accountable leader
The emergence of directly accountable chief executives fundamentally changes the character of leadership required at the top of combined authorities. Historically, many combined authority CEOs have been appointed primarily for their ability to build partnerships, navigate political complexity and convene multiple stakeholders around a shared vision. These attributes remain essential, but they will no longer be sufficient on their own.
Future CEOs will need to demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of public finance, assurance and risk management. The personal accountability attached to public funding decisions elevates the importance of financial stewardship from a discipline to a core component of executive leadership. Boards and elected mayors are likely to place greater emphasis on candidates who can demonstrate a track record of managing significant budgets, delivering value-for-money outcomes and maintaining robust governance frameworks.
In practice, this may accelerate the trend towards recruiting leaders with experience across both local and central government, where exposure to Treasury disciplines, complex accountability frameworks and system-wide performance management is increasingly common.
Leading across systems rather than organisations
Perhaps the most transformative aspect of the reforms is the ambition to remove traditional departmental accounting barriers that have often frustrated genuinely place-based working.
For years, public sector leaders have spoken about the need to align spending around people and places rather than organisational boundaries. Yet despite goodwill, separate funding streams, accountability arrangements and reporting requirements have frequently limited progress.
If combined authorities gain the ability to steward and coordinate more integrated budgets across employment, skills, transport, housing, health and economic development, CEOs will need to become genuine system leaders.
This will require a shift from organisational management to ecosystem leadership. Success will depend less on the performance of the combined authority itself and more on the ability to align multiple partners behind shared outcomes. Leaders will need exceptional influencing skills, political awareness and the ability to broker consensus between organisations that retain their own statutory responsibilities and priorities.
The challenge will be balancing greater flexibility with heightened personal accountability. CEOs will be expected to innovate and integrate while maintaining clear audit trails and demonstrable value for money.
A new importance for statutory officers
These reforms will also elevate the role of statutory officers. The chief finance officer, in particular, is set to become a pivotal figure in the governance architecture. As local funding arrangements become more complex and more integrated, finance leaders will need to move beyond traditional assurance roles and become strategic advisers at the heart of decision-making.
Their ability to provide robust challenge, identify risk and demonstrate the impact of investment choices will be critical.
Similarly, monitoring officers are likely to find themselves operating in an increasingly demanding environment. As combined authorities assume broader powers and responsibilities, legal and governance considerations will become more intricate. The ability to navigate new accountability frameworks, ensure compliance and protect organisational integrity will be essential.
The reforms may therefore drive greater demand for statutory officers who combine technical expertise with strategic influence. The most effective officers will be those capable of acting as trusted partners to chief executives and elected leaders rather than simply guardians of process.
Governance under greater scrutiny
The strengthening of oversight through enhanced engagement with the Local Audit Office and the National Audit Office introduces another significant leadership consideration.
Greater scrutiny is likely to raise expectations around transparency, evidence based decision making and performance reporting. Combined authorities will need governance arrangements capable not only of ensuring compliance but also of demonstrating impact.
This will place a premium on data literacy within executive teams. Future leaders will need to understand how to use evidence to justify investment decisions, evaluate outcomes and communicate value to both local communities and national stakeholders. The ability to withstand external scrutiny will become a defining leadership capability.
Leaders will need confidence in their governance frameworks while maintaining a culture that welcomes challenge and continuous improvement.
Recruitment implications for the future
Taken together, these reforms suggest a significant evolution in the profile of senior leadership required across combined authorities.
Future CEOs are likely to be assessed not only on their political acumen and ability to deliver economic growth, but also on their capacity to operate as accountable officers for increasingly complex and integrated public investments. Strategic vision, partnership building and stakeholder management will remain critical, but they will be complemented by a stronger emphasis on financial stewardship, governance expertise and risk management.
For statutory officers, the expectation will be similar. Technical competence will remain the foundation, but influence, strategic thinking and system leadership will become equally important.
The devolution agenda has long been characterised by the transfer of power from the centre to local places. What these reforms reveal is that the next chapter is equally about the transfer of accountability and greater personal responsibility.
As a result, the leaders who thrive in this environment will be those who can successfully unite ambition with assurance, innovation with accountability and local autonomy with national scrutiny. For combined authorities, the challenge is not simply delivering devolution – it is building a generation of leaders capable of carrying the weight of its responsibilities.
Roger Russell and Ben Cox are partners at Faerfield
