Levelling up towns and cities in non- metropolitan England; principles for county devolution
A new paper from the District Councils’ Network Levelling up towns and cities in non-metropolitan England, outlines how the Government can realise levelling up ambitions at a local level through supporting greater devolution to district areas as part of its County Deals programme.
Commenting on the paper, Cllr John Fuller OBE, Chair of the District Councils’ Network said:
“In this new paper we have set out the key principles we believe should be at the heart of taking devolution and levelling up forward, which first and foremost should bring decisions closer to local communities.
“District councils are the embodiment of the levelling up agenda; close enough to communities to understand them, large enough to effect positive change across much of this nation.
“Our members have a good record of providing strong, visible local leadership. We showed this during the pandemic, where districts were on the frontline responding to the crisis.
“It is districts who hold the levers to level up infrastructure, skills, housing, health, employment, achieving net zero and beyond. We need a guaranteed seat at the table and a level playing field throughout.
“We are pleased that local government reorganisation will not be a prerequisite for devolution in any area of England. Districts stand ready and willing to work collaboratively across our counties to deliver truly ambitious and wide-ranging plans to level up all of our communities.
“We now look forward to seeing the Government lay out the full scope of powers and funding it is willing to devolve as part of county deals and the wider levelling up agenda.”
