Six areas brought onto Devolution Priority Programme

Six new areas have been brought onto the Devolution Priority Programme, with Mayors to be elected by May 2026.

The areas will be given sweeping new powers, aimed at delivering growth, opportunities, transport and housing for local communities.  

The programme will be one of the largest ever single packages of mayoral devolution in England and will support the the areas to move towards devolution at pace, becoming mayor-led strategic authorities by May next year if they proceed.

An extra 8.8 million people will be brought under mayoral devolution, bringing the total up to 44 million, nearly 80 per cent of the country.

Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Norfolk & Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex & Brighton, and Hampshire & Solent are the areas set to join the programme.

The areas will now begin work on an ambitious devolution timetable, with consultations set to launch soon.

Meanwhile, new legislation has come into force to establish four new devolution institutions. This includes two new mayoral authorities in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire, and the formation of combined county authorities in Devon and Torbay, and Lancashire.

Deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local Government Angela Rayner said: "The truth is that for all the promises of levelling up, central government’s first instinct is all too often to hoard power and hold our economy back. Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few.

"We promised to achieve a devolution revolution by overseeing the greatest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation, and today’s announcement will help raise living standards, improve public services and build the homes we so desperately need.

"By taking a common-sense approach to reorganisation, boosted by our reforms to give mayors a suite of vital new powers, we will make sure areas can truly deliver on our Plan for Change."

Minister of state for local government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon OBE MP said: "In December, we asked areas to come forward to be part of our Devolution Priority Programme. The response was clear—this country is ready for change.

"While devolution can be hard to understand sometimes, the aims of this programme are simple: it puts more money in people’s pockets,  leads to quicker, better, cheaper transport, designed with local people in mind and puts politics back in the service of working people."

The government has been considering requests from local councils to postpone local elections in May 2025. Half of requests have been agreed and elections due in May 2025 will be delayed until May 2026 for nine local councils.

Responding to the announcement, Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association, said: “Today’s announcement on local elections as part of local government reorganisation, and which areas will be fast-tracked for devolution, will remove the uncertainty for local areas affected but the tight deadline for them to submit detailed proposals is challenging. We recognise that there will be those who are disappointed too. The LGA is working at pace with MHCLG and partner organisations to develop our support offer for them, alongside those who have already been through – or still going through – the devolution process, and those who are not.

“We continue to press government to provide further clarity on aspects of the reforms and timelines for devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR), including for those whose bids have not been approved as part of this initial priority programme. As the Deputy Prime Minister rightly highlighted today, councils are essential to promoting sustainable and inclusive local economic growth and this clarity is vital to help them play a key role in solving many of our biggest national challenges.

“Government also needs to commit to funding councils up front to deliver on these reforms. Areas that have already gone through LGR have relied heavily on reserves to unitarise and some estimations for one-off costs range from £25 to £100 million. It is imperative that any new unitary councils are financially viable, and able to provide sustainable services for communities in the long term.

“We want every council in England to have the ability to secure devolution that works for them, their local economies and their residents. However, devolution is not an end in itself and cannot distract from the severe funding pressures that are pushing local services to the brink. It is vital the forthcoming Spending Review provides all councils with a significant and sustained increase in overall funding that reflects current and future demand for services.”