Budget 2024: more devolution delivered

It's a process, not a event

There's a quiet revolution going on in the English regions.

What has slipped under the radar of a lot of people as part of Jeremy Hunt's budget are further plans to extend the scope (both in territory and in powers) of devolution in the English regions.

A quick reminder of the arguments related to this part of the UK's constitutional landscape...

These can be considered as the arguments in favour of English regional devolution

• It is much more efficient to have the regions concerned with policy delivery involved in the formulation of policy,
• On a related note, this would additionally this would relieve the burden on central government.
• Evidence from the Celtic arenas suggests that there are clear benefits to bringing the government closer to the people since policies can be designed to fit the needs of the people in different regions
• The governmental structures we have now are in need of remodelling: local government was designed to fit the needs of the mid-nineteenth century and central government expanded in the middle of the twentieth to meet the demands of that time.
• Since the (unelected) Regional Development Agencies were scrapped in 2012 there is a lack of strategic co-ordination across many regions (except London, and Greater Manchester for example) with regards to economic development, regeneration, plans to boost employment, and so forth.
• It would provide a counter-point to London-centricism; it is difficult to think of another polity that is so dominated economically and politically by its nation’s biggest city.
• The regions in England need to have a platform that will give their area a voice enabling them to lobby central government for increased funding.

These can be considered as the arguments against English regional devolution

• If every region in England were to have some sort of devolution, then regions would be fighting amongst themselves for the same amount of money that was available before.
• Government would not be brought closer to the people unless the devolved powers assume real powers – as in Scotland.
• Any new structures would merely add an extra layer of bureaucracy.
• Regional assemblies would do little to improve economic performance within the regions.
• Claims that devolution would usher in a new form of politics have not been borne out by experiences in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

So, as part of the quiet devolution revolution, the current government has generally worked towards its goal of 'levelling up' by transferring further powers out of Whitehall to England's regional units.

This can be seen in Budget 2024 with plans to extend the powers in the North East and bring it to parity with other parts of the UK, like Greater Manchester as part of a new 'trailblazer' deal.

In addition, the Chancellor also announced more plans to devolve powers that while they fit with the general principles of devolution were somewhat more controversial given that they were related to parts of the UK that can be seen to be on the 'wrong' side of the north/south divide and as such seemed hard to justify as part of levelling up.