Deal or no deal: English Devolution, a top-down approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4335/14.3.655-670(2016)Abstract
A new legislative framework for devolution has been introduced into England marking a potentially significant step towards addressing the unfinished business of Labour’s devolution settlement. What promised to be a bespoke and bottom-up commitment to devolution for English local government has manifested into a top-down, prescriptive and inconsistent process of agreeing the decentralisation of functions and finances to groups of principal local authorities. The paper reports on the progress of the new wave of devolution in England to date, through a review of agreed devolution deals and assesses the extent to which the current ‘devolution revolution’ represents the beginning of a shift away from a centralised system built from the bottom up, or looks set to result in another typically top-down reform to local government. The paper presents the initial findings of early research, which will be used to develop key research questions for a further long-term research project.
References
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Leach, S. (2006) The changing role of local politics in Britain (Bristol: The Policy Press).
Lowndes, V. & Leach, S. (2004) Understanding local political leadership: constitutions, contexts and capabilities, Local Government Studies, 30(4), pp. 557-575.
Rao, N. (2003) Options for change: mayors, cabinets or the status quo?, Local Government Studies, 29(1), pp. 1-16.
Stewart, J. (2014) An era of continuing change: reflections on local government in England 1974-2014, Local Government Studies, 40(6), pp. 835-850.
Stoker, G. (1991) The politics of local government. 2nd ed. (Basingstoke: Macmillan).
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Bogdanor, V. (1999) Devolution in the United Kingdom (New York: Oxford University Press).
Chisholm, M. (2010) Emerging realities of local government reorganization, Public Money & Management, 30(3), pp. 143-150.
Communities and Local Government Committee (2016) Devolution: the next five years and beyond (London: The Stationary Office).
ComRes (2016) Centre for Cities: 2017 mayoral research (London: ComRes).
Copus, C. (2016) In Defence of Councillors (Manchester: Manchester university press).
Copus, C. (2006) Leading the localities: executive mayors in English local governance (Manchester: Manchester university press).
Copus, C. (2004) Directly elected mayors: a tonic for local governance or old wine in new bottles? Local Government Studies, 30(4), pp. 576-588.
Dunleavy, P. (1980) Urban Political Analysis. 1st ed. (London and Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan UK).
Elcock H., Fenwick, J. & McMillan, J. (2010) The reorganization addiction in local government: unitary councils for England, Public Money & Management, 30(6), pp. 331-338
Griggs, S. (2015) Two tribes? Exploring the future role of elected members (Hamilton: Association for Public Sector Excellence).
Goldsmith, M. & Page, E. (1987) Britain, in: M. Goldsmith & E. Page (Eds) Central and Local Government Relations: A Comparative Analysis of West European Unitary States (London: Sage).
HM Government (2016) The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 (London: The Stationary Office).
HM Treasury (2016) East Anglia Devolution Agreement. 2016 (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2016) Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Agreement (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2016) Greater Manchester Agreement: devolution to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and transition to a directly elected mayor (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2016) Liverpool City Region devolution agreement (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2016) West of England devolution agreement (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2015) North East devolution agreement (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2015) Sheffield City Region devolution agreement (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2015) Tees Valley Region devolution agreement (London: HM Treasury).
HM Treasury (2015) West Midlands Combined Authority devolution agreement (London: HM Treasury).
Jones, G. & Stewart, J. (1985) The case for local government. 2nd ed. (London: George Allen & Unwin).
Jones, G. & Stewart, J. (2002) Central-Local Relations Since the Layfield Report, Local Government Studies, 28(3), pp. 7-28.
S. Kukovic, C., Copus, M. Hacek & A. Blair (2015), Direct Mayoral Elections in Slovenia and England: Traditions and Trends compared, Lex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 13(3), pp. 697-718.
Leach, S. (2006) The changing role of local politics in Britain (Bristol: The Policy Press).
Lowndes, V. & Leach, S. (2004) Understanding local political leadership: constitutions, contexts and capabilities, Local Government Studies, 30(4), pp. 557-575.
Rao, N. (2003) Options for change: mayors, cabinets or the status quo?, Local Government Studies, 29(1), pp. 1-16.
Stewart, J. (2014) An era of continuing change: reflections on local government in England 1974-2014, Local Government Studies, 40(6), pp. 835-850.
Stoker, G. (1991) The politics of local government. 2nd ed. (Basingstoke: Macmillan).
Waterman, C. (2014) Local government and local governance: 1944-2011, Local Government Studies, 40(6), pp. 938-953.
Weir, S. & Beetham, D. (1999) Political Power and Democratic Control in Britain: The Democratic Audit of Great Britain (London: Routledge).</span></p>
Published
2016-07-31
Issue
Section
Conference Paper (Annual Conference 2020)
