The government should review the requirement to have a directly elected mayor to achieve the highest levels of devolution, according to a report from the Devolution All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
Currently, local authorities seeking the greatest devolution powers have to agree devolution deals with central government as part of a mayoral combined authority.
But the Devolution APPG believes that local areas should be able to negotiate deals that fit within existing institutional structures rather than “reserving the most significant powers for areas which are content to follow the centrally preferred model”.
The Devolution APPG appointed a panel of commissioners – including MPs, council leaders and mayors – to conduct an inquiry into the levelling up white paper. Their report calls on the new government to rethink the culture of “centralisation” and give more power to local communities and leaders.
“The appetite for new devolution deals is very clear, and we know from our evidence that where they are right, they can be transformative. The government must, however, listen more to local communities about what they want and what works for them,” said Andrew Lewer, Devolution APPG chair.
“It must be locally led and draw on the deep well of skills and experience in our existing local government structures.”
According to the report: “We recommend moving from a deal-based approach to one that allows devolution to be delivered to local areas at pace. Devolution must now become a process by which local areas define the powers they need, not a top-down process by which central government delegates the delivery of individual programmes or responsibilities.”
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