Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Deputy Prime Minister kickstarts new devolution revolution to boost local power, published on 16 July 2024, how she plans to assess the impact of the new partnership approach and scaling up devolution on unlocking economic growth and tackling regional inequality.

The Government’s ambition is for a new, stronger partnership between central and local Government, recognising that different parts of the country have different strengths, and it is local representatives that know their communities best.

We will work in partnership with communities, Mayors and local authorities to ensure that local areas have the tools they need to deliver local growth. Devolution is central to this mission, but only around half of the people in England currently benefit from these arrangements, and so we have asked more areas to come forward with devolution proposals. We are also establishing a Council of Nations and Regions with First Ministers and Mayors of Combined Authorities in England, and will introduce Local Growth Plans for places to develop.

We will work with local areas to understand what works, and explore opportunities to improve alignment with the new Government’s growth agenda, including through the devolution of further powers and function through a landmark English Devolution Bill which will seek to set a presumption of devolution by default.