Local government minister Alison McGovern said of devolution: ‘At the UK level, we have to be mentally flexible enough to allow places to do different things.' Eureka! The whole point of devolution and – dare one mention it, local government – is the ability to choose to do what is right for an area and that may be different from what other areas do.
Districts and counties in England have been led on a merry devolution dance since the White Paper emerged in December 2024. The priority programme turned out to be a misnomer, with mayoral elections postponed from 2026 to 2028. For shire counties without devolution arrangements in place, the wait will be even longer.
