Devolve power to local communities

After decades of ‘centralisation on steroids’, more power is hoarded at the highest levels of our government than almost any other state in Western Europe.

Central government has been systematically taking power and resources for itself, yet the results show that our system of government isn’t working.  It’s time to reverse this.  

We believe that more decisions should be taken in town halls, not Whitehall. Councils understand their local areas better than central government, so should have the powers and resources to respond to local needs.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised to "take power out of Westminster and carry it into every postcode in the country."

We welcome that ambition and look forward to seeing detailed plans from the government. We hope they will set out a path towards genuine devolution across the country. 

These devolution settlements should not be imposed from the top down. Every place is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all model of local government. Communities should have a genuine say in how devolution should work for them. What works for Manchester may not work for Cornwall.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 devolved some powers to Mayors but was a missed opportunity to go further. It was also accompanied by a push to merge local councils into "mega-councils" of around 500,000 residents. For many communities, this meant moving decision-making further away, not closer. It was the opposite of devolution.

The focus must now be on creating a model of local democracy that puts power closer to communities and gives people a genuine say over the decisions that affect their lives.