English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

What's in the Bill?

Strategic authorities

• The Bill creates the strategic authority, which will enable quicker and easier devolution of powers from Westminster to local government.
• Combined authorities, combined county authorities, the Greater London Authority and, in rare cases, a single council which reached an agreement with government to access non-mayoral devolution will all become strategic authorities.
• There will be three different levels of devolution across strategic authorities:
  • Foundation – all existing non-mayoral combined authorities and non-mayoral combined county authorities; any new devolution areas that still have two-tier local government. 
  • Mayoral – all existing mayoral combined authorities, mayoral combined county authorities and the Greater London Authority.
  • Established mayoral – mayoral strategic authorities which meet specified eligibility criteria. They will have access to the broadest range of devolved powers and functions, including the ability to request further devolved powers from the government.  

Devolution framework

• The government will be rolling out devolution by default via a standardised devolution framework. The framework is a standardised set of legal powers, funding commitments and partnership agreements with the government.
• The Bill will support deepening devolution through:
  • Creating a power to expand the devolution framework over time using secondary legislation.
  • Creating the ability for specific strategic authorities to pilot devolved powers before the government decides whether to add them to the devolution framework.
  • Giving established mayoral strategic authorities a ‘right to request’ which allows them to propose further powers, funding and partnerships to expand the devolution framework.
• Strategic authorities will have authority over the following areas:
  • Transport and local infrastructure.
  • Skills and employment support.
  • Housing and strategic planning.
  • Economic development and regeneration.
  • Environment and net zero.
  • Health, wellbeing and public service reform.
  • Public safety.

Housing and strategic planning

• This Bill will give mayors of combined authorities and combined county authorities new planning powers, similar to those exercised by the Mayor of London. These include:
  • The ability to directly refuse planning applications of potential strategic importance and the ability to call in these applications. These call-in powers will allow mayors to take a closer look at strategically important development applications.
  • Strategic authorities will be required to publish a Spatial Development Strategy (SDS). This will guide development for local authorities, and their Local Plans will need to broadly conform with it.
  • The ability to prepare Mayoral Development Orders (MDOs). An MDO is a tool to grant planning permission for a particular development instead of relying on an application to be submitted.
  • The power to charge a Community Infrastructure Levy.
  • The power to designate a Mayoral Development Area (MDA) and establish a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC).