There's been an interesting debate about whether mayors could (and should) be able to provide rebates with assigned revenue. This from @jacktshaw.bsky.social is the best summary I've seen of the current legal position jackshaw.substack.com/p/can-and-sh... Some thoughts on the merits 🧵1/12

Can — and should — mayors be allowed to offer tax rebates?

debates over tax rebates are fiscal policy, but also the political differences that greater devolution will create — and what they mean for the relationship between Whitehall and strategic authorities

jackshaw.substack.com

NEW SUBSTACK: Can — and should — mayors be allowed to offer tax rebates? Short reflections on the politics of the Government's Rewiring the State statement, the response it has provoked, and the question of whether mayoral tax rebates are possible. jackshaw.substack.com/p/can-and-sh...

Can — and should — mayors be allowed to offer tax rebates?

debates over tax rebates are fiscal policy, but also the political differences that greater devolution will create — and what they mean for the relationship between Whitehall and strategic authorities

jackshaw.substack.com

How can Andy Burnham accelerate English devolution? Great to see this excellent new report out today from a formidable double act, @jacktshaw.bsky.social and @stkaye.bsky.social.

jacktshaw.bsky.social@jacktshaw.bsky.social · last wk.

New report out today with Re:State's Simon Kaye — and a foreword from Mayor Tracy Brabin and Chris Curtis MP. It incudes ten options for the new Burnham administration.

New report out today with Re:State's Simon Kaye — and a foreword from Mayor Tracy Brabin and Chris Curtis MP. It incudes ten options for the new Burnham administration.

It was a real pleasure to join the Planning After Dark podcast last week, as the Cabinet reshuffle was unfolding (doesn't it feel like a lifetime ago!). I don't think I've enjoyed recording a podcast so much and it was a privilege to learn from Rose, Catriona and Jackie. cratus.co.uk/housing-home...

Housing, Homelessness and the Politics of Place - Video Podcast - Cratus Group

Watch video here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2458157/episodes/19562970

cratus.co.uk

New map from Dylan Cridland and I, published as part of our Prospect Magazine piece last week on devolution and the Parliamentary Labour Party. While devolution has largely been concentrated in Labour's heartlands, the remaining areas are far more dispersed:

One interesting dimension of devo-skepticism: Labour MPs that aren't represented by a Mayor are in seats that are significantly more marginal.

jacktshaw.bsky.social@jacktshaw.bsky.social · 2w ago

One of the assumptions underpinning England's devolution agenda is that there is broad political support for transferring power out of Westminster. Dylan Cridland and I explore the politics of devolution in Prospect Magazine: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/742...

One of the assumptions underpinning England's devolution agenda is that there is broad political support for transferring power out of Westminster. Dylan Cridland and I explore the politics of devolution in Prospect Magazine: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/742...

How many Labour MPs actually support devolution?

Andy Burnham could soon discover that devolving power creates winners and losers

prospectmagazine.co.uk

Our Commission on Devolution and Diplomacy highlighted that policy innovation in public services can benefit from international engagement between cities. Interesting from the new OECD Toolkit for Cities:

Now the local government re-organisation decisions have been published, 134 local authorities will become 38, meaning that England-wide there will be 221 local authorities, down from 317. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has been deferred until October, so it'll fall further.

I often think it's a category error to poll the public about devolution. It is an instrument to achieving better outcomes for the policies that the public care the most about. New polling from Ipsos:

If I were a councillor, I would want to see the legal advice that the Mayor of Lewisham received, as well as the Monitoring Officer's advice. Is this legal? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Green-led council plans to ban cooperation with Home Office on immigration raids

Exclusive: Lewisham council’s move marks first step in Greens’ plan to create a corridor of sanctuary boroughs across London

theguardian.com

Andy Burnham said he'd devolve employment and business support in his speech at the Manchester People's History Museum. Here's one option — from the Ideas Bank series I'm writing on Substack — that's available:

I think this letter from Anneliese Dodds and Sean Woodcock is spot on. Unfortunately the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act didn't include a mechanism to resolve disputes and advance devolution where local authorities could not agree. That should be rectified.

The idea of a Minister for London has been mooted this morning. Why not reset the relationship with the experienced Mayor of London running the Greater London Authority eight miles away from Westminster, which hasn't benefitted from a substantive devolution settlement since 2017?

Nice of Politico to cover our story yesterday too.

jacktshaw.bsky.social@jacktshaw.bsky.social · 3w ago

On the homepage of Prospect Magazine today. If councillors were employees, 88 per cent of local authorities would be paying below the National Minimum Wage. Is it time, now that the incoming administration will expect more from local authorities, to think about how to give councillors dignity?

Since the Levelling Up & Regeneration Act still places a duty on the Government to explain how it is delivering the Levelling Up Missions, it has to — strangely — explain how it is meeting the priorities of the Johnson administration. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Levelling Up Missions annual report 2025 to 2026

The report fulfils the statutory requirement under Part 1 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 to report on progress against the 12 levelling up missions established by the previous administr...

gov.uk

NEW SUBSTACK: In Notes on Local Government, I've published another article in the Ideas Bank series — exploring 10 options to push power out of Whitehall. Should the Government index strategic authorities' Investment Fund to inflation? Standardise their voting? Link below.

In today's Substack, I explore ten more options for devolution. Do we need Passenger Transport Executives England-wide?

On the homepage of Prospect Magazine today. If councillors were employees, 88 per cent of local authorities would be paying below the National Minimum Wage. Is it time, now that the incoming administration will expect more from local authorities, to think about how to give councillors dignity?

NEW SUBSTACK: In Notes on Local Government, I've published a new article in the Ideas Bank series, exploring 10 ways to push power out of Whitehall. Should strategic authorities' Investment Funds be indexed to inflation? What role should they play in airport investment? substack.com/home/post/p-...

Devolution Revolution: Ideas Bank IV

A live collection of practical ideas to push power out of Whitehall and into places — from the Integrated Settlement to health inequalities.

substack.com

NEW SUBSTACK: In Notes on Local Government, I've published a new article in the Ideas Bank series, exploring 10 ways to push power out of Whitehall. Should strategic authorities' Investment Funds be indexed to inflation? What role should they play in airport investment? substack.com/home/post/p-...

Devolution Revolution: Ideas Bank IV

A live collection of practical ideas to push power out of Whitehall and into places — from the Integrated Settlement to health inequalities.

substack.com

Lots of discussion about fiscal devolution and the £16 billion Integrated Settlement may prove the basis for that, so I've written about how it might evolve for the Local Government Information Unit: lgiu.org/integrated-s...

Integrated Settlements part three: change is afoot?   - LGIU

This is the final article of a three-part series on the Integrated Settlement. This resource will examine what might succeed the Integrated Settlement, and what that would mean for the next phase of E...

lgiu.org

Rotherham Council is reviewing the chimes played by ice-cream vans – which piqued my interest. Today I learned that the Secretary of State is responsible for approving the Code of Practice on Noise from Ice-Cream Van Chimes. Another case of Whitehall doing too much?

The Integrated Settlement is billed as a game-changer in English devolution, but is it? As part of the three-part series, in the second article I examine how it is operating in practice. For the LGiU: lgiu.org/integrated-s...

Integrated Settlements part two: evolution, not revolution? - LGIU

This is the second of a three-part series on the Integrated Settlement, examining whether, and how, the Integrated Settlement is changing the way MSAs and their local authority partners operate.

lgiu.org

The City-REDI Commission on Devolution and Diplomacy launched its new report this week, which I was pleased to co-author. It highlights a major opportunity for places to use international engagement more strategically to attract investment and create jobs. www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...

Commission calls for ‘radical rethink’ of how Whitehall works to drive growth

University of Birmingham project seeks a more co-ordinated approach to supporting regions to develop stronger international ties

civilserviceworld.com

NEW SUBSTACK: As part of my series, the Ideas Bank, I'm exploring options to push power out of Westminster and into places: from giving mayors a say in Trade Deals to building on the Devolution Framework. Link in comments.

How is children’s social care in England held to account for delivering outcomes? From the National Audit Office:

Lots in this new report from the OECD on the role of civic pride in place-based regeneration – and good to see the Bennett School report Owen Garling, Mike Kenny and I wrote a few years ago get cited: www.oecd.org/en/publicati...

Local Identity, Pride and Branding in Place Transformation

A place’s economic future is shaped not only by its industries, infrastructure and institutions, but also by its identity: how people perceive it, talk about it and imagine what it can become. The sto...

oecd.org

Came across this Healthy System Indicators framework to help policy-makers and practitioners determine whether the conditions they are operating in are optimal: