To steer its devolution bill through the House of Lords, the Government was forced into several concessions. Perhaps most significant was the dropping of clauses enabling ministers to establish new mayors and strategic authorities without local consent.
This ‘ministerial power of direction' (MPOD) was contentious: imposing devolution from the top strikes many as oxymoronic. But without this power, the Government's ambition to ‘complete the map' of devolution hangs by a thread.
