English Devolution White Paper. Power and Partnership: Foundations for Growth

The English Devolution White Paper sets out the government's agenda to increase and expand devolution across all parts of England. In addition, it also sets out proposals to take forward local government reorganisation, particularly in areas where there are multiple tiers of local authorities, like Worcestershire.

Letter from Jim McMahon OBE. Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution

The letter to all two-tier councils and neighbouring unitary authorities, dated 16 December 2024, sets out clear process and milestones.

This is an outline of the timeline provided by the government in the white paper. Dates become confirmed as we receive updates. Actions are relevant to Worcestershire County Council as a two-tier council.

It remains unclear when the Secretary of State will implement reorganisation and devolution for non-priority areas.

Formal invite received to submit initial local government reorganisation proposal

On Wednesday 5 February 2025, we received our formal invitation to submit Local Government Reorganisation proposals. The letter sent from Jim McMahon OBE, Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution provides proposal development guidance and details on the criteria.

It also confirms when we must submit our proposals back to government by; interim proposals due on or before 21 March 2025 and full proposals by 28 November 2025. These are stated in the timeline above.

What is the council doing now?

We will continue to work collaboratively with partners and stakeholders to produce the required summary case, in line with the government’s criteria. This criteria has been set out to ensure that unitary authorities are the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.

During the process, our focus remains on delivering essential services across the whole of Worcestershire.

Update

The Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board meeting on 18 March to discuss interim proposal.

• Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board on Tuesday, 18 March, 2025, 1:30pm
• Media release regarding council discussing interim proposal for unitary authority at scrutiny
• Agenda for Cabinet on Thursday 20th March, 2025, 10:00am

The below Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are not an exhaustive list. We will continue to add new questions and answers as and when they arise. 

• What is a white paper?
  • As outlined by UK Parliament, "white papers are policy documents produced by the government that set out their proposals for future legislation"
• What is devolution?
  • In England, devolution is the transfer of powers and funding from national to local government. It is important because it ensures that decisions are made closer to the local people, communities and businesses they affect.
• What is the English Devolution White Paper?
  • The English Devolution White Paper is the government’s statement of their plans to reform local government. This includes a wide range of proposals on devolution but also wider plans for local government reorganisation and changes to local audit.
• What is local government reorganisation?
  • Local government reorganisation is the process in which the structure and responsibilities of local authorities are reconfigured. In the context of the English Devolution White Paper, the government have set out plans to move away from the current two-tier system of district and county councils. The government has indicated that for most areas this will mean creating councils with a population of 500,000 or more.
• What is the difference between devolution and local government reorganisation?  
  • Devolution is the transfer of powers and funding from national to local government. Local government reorganisation is about how the powers and funding that sit with local government are organised between councils.
• What is a unitary authority?  
  • Unitary authorities are a single tier of local government responsible for all local services in an area. They may cover a whole county, part of a county or a large town or city. For example, Cornwall Council, Nottingham City Council and Reading Borough Council are all unitary councils. Large urban areas may have a unique form of unitary authorities called metropolitan councils, such as Oldham or Doncaster. London boroughs are also unitary authorities.
• What is a combined authority?
  • A combined authority is a legal body set up using national legislation that enables a group of two or more councils to collaborate and take collective decisions across council boundaries.
• What is a mayor?  
  • A mayor is the directly elected leader of a geographical region. Many areas of England already have mayors, including London, Greater Manchester, and West Yorkshire. There are also directly elected mayors covering single unitary councils.  
• What is the role of mayors compared to council leaders?
  • The government believes that within the context of strategic authorities, mayors should have a unique role which allows them to focus fully on devolved responsibilities. Council leaders are expected to continue to focus on leading their place and delivering vital services.
• What is a shadow authority?
  • A shadow authority is elected to carry out the functions of a new unitary council until that authority formally comes into effect. This is commonly called “vesting day”.

The following questions have been answered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

• What is a strategic authority?
  • Strategic authorities are a new, overarching legal category which will be established in the English Devolution Bill. They will not replace existing Combined and Combined County Authorities (CA and CCA).
    Each CA and CCA will automatically become a Strategic Authority. Strategic authorities will have responsibility for strategy development and programme delivery across specific areas of competence (broad thematic areas of activity) with corresponding functions set out against each of these in a statutory devolution framework. There will be three levels of Strategic Authority, which are:
    • Foundation Strategic Authority: Available to those areas without an elected mayor, Foundation Strategic Authorities will have limited devolution. CAs and CCAs will automatically be designated as this, for example, the current Lancashire devolution deal will establish a Foundation Strategic Authority.
    • Mayoral Strategic Authority: MCAs and MCCAs will automatically begin as this unless they have been designated as Established. For those with an elected mayor, a range of powers will be devolved.
    • Established Mayoral Strategic Authority: For those Mayoral Strategic Authorities who are able to satisfy a number of additional governance requirements. This unlocks access to further devolution, most notably the Integrated Settlement. The GLA and other MSAs such as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands will be designated as this.  
  • The GLA will become the Strategic Authority for London, and there will be an option for a Single Local Authority, by exception, to be designated as a foundation Strategic Authority as a stepping stone to forming a combined or combined county authority.
• What is the approach that government will be taking to town and parish councils?
  • As set out in the White Paper, we know people value the role of governance at the community scale and that can be a concern when local government is reorganised. We will therefore want to see stronger community arrangements when reorganisation happens in the way councils engage at a neighbourhood or area level. We will also rewire the relationship between town and parish councils and principal Local Authorities, strengthening expectations on engagement and community voice.
• Who will be meeting the cost of LGR?
  • As set out in the White Paper, we recognise that reorganisation will create upfront costs and additional pressures for councils alongside their crucial responsibilities to communities, including caring for some of the most vulnerable in society. It is vital that new unitary councils get off to a good start, so we will work closely with local leaders to explore what support they might need to develop robust proposals and implement new structures, including taking decisions to postpone local elections where this will help to smooth the transition process. We will learn from the experience and successes of others who have been through the process.
• What do you expect the level of cost to be to councils of LGR?
  • As set out in the White Paper, it is for councils to develop proposals for new unitary councils which are the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks.