DEVOLUTION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION

The biggest shake up of local government in over 50 years.

Welcome to our Devolution and LGR Hub, which aims to support leaders at all levels of strategic authorities and local authorities through the significant transformation of regional and local leadership in the years ahead. There are also specific resources and intelligence for private sector developers, investors and other businesses who will play a key role in regional economic development.

A lot has happened since the English Devolution White Paper was launched in December 2024. For a start, the principles from that Paper are now entrenched into the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. You can read our analysis of the Act in these articles with a focus on your particular specialism and expertise:

Impact on economic development and regeneration

Impact on planning and highways

Impact on investors and developers

Andy Burnham’s appointment as Prime Minister has also led to some significant announcements. Mayors will receive expanded powers and we finally have some details on fiscal devolution.

In terms of LGR, effective immediately:

Decisions on four areas (Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk) have been withdrawn.
All 14 decisions announced in July are now paused for review.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and West Sussex, where decisions have not yet been taken, will be considered as part of that review.
The new councils for East Surrey and West Surrey are unaffected and outside of this process because they are already established in law, meaning they will be vested in April 2027.

Questions that the Government will be answering in their review include:

Was the process for making the decisions around which proposals to choose or reject, legally sound according to public law principles?
Do the structures effectively support the Government’s devolution goals, as laid out in the Rewiring the State document?

For our guidance on what to do now, click here.

READ THE UPDATES

LGR pause and review:

what councils need to know

Regeneration: Mitigating LGR's risks for struggling coastal communities

A bold new era for local government: understanding the changes ahead

HOW WE CAN HELP

Since the Devolution and Local Government Reform (LGR) White Paper launched just before Christmas in 2024, local authority leadership groups have worked tirelessly to create their proposals for restructuring, whilst simultaneously ensuring that their existing council continues to deliver services in difficult times. Either one of these would be all-consuming at the best of times but the ambitious timelines set out by the Government and the recent announcements relating to this have added additional layers of complexity. We are here to help you navigate these challenges and can do so as follows:

Advice on the strategic issues, for example, how to make decisions that achieve best value duty without compromising the future unitary authority, for example in acquisitions, disposals and project work

Advice on practicalities of asset transfers (e.g. asset reviews, and particular title/terms), including identifying all assets in your possession, any liabilities attached to them (e.g. contamination, rights of way, third party interests) and the options available for transfer (particularly complex if a multiple unitary option is emerging).

Advice on disposal of surplus assets, including consideration of ‘best value’, public law duties, timings (before or after vesting day), overage and clawback.

Review of leasehold estate, including identifying term expiry, break clauses, termination/exit provisions.

As an Arbiter on disputes arising from the interpretation of the transfer regulations

Interpreting charitable objects and the transfer of charitable assets to a successor unitary authority

By providing you with additional capacity on your property, planning, construction and other needs in busy periods and helping you to achieve the necessary objectives ahead of vesting day.