What does devolution mean for the local voluntary sector?

Just before Christmas, the government published the English Devolution White Paper – GOV.UK. They believe that

“Devolution across England is fundamental to achieving the change the public expect and deserve: growth, more joined-up delivery of public services, and politics being done with communities, not to them.”

This is about two things in essence.

“Universal coverage in England of Strategic Authorities – which should be a number of councils working together, covering areas that people recognise and work in. Many places already have Combined Authorities that serve this role. The government will continue to develop new Strategic Authorities collaboratively and in partnership with places.”

We have one of these already in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, so assuming this is deemed to be delivering effectively we can probably assume it will not be changed significantly.

The second area covered is about Local Government reorganisation

“This White Paper announces that we will facilitate a programme of local government reorganisation for two-tier areas, and for unitary councils where there is evidence of failure or where their size or boundaries may be hindering their ability to deliver sustainable and high-quality public services.”

This will impact us as locally Cambridgeshire is one of those 2 tier authorities and Peterborough is a small unitary authority. The government will work with councils to allow them to put forward proposals, but they do state that

“New unitary councils must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. For most areas this will mean creating councils with a population of 500,000 or more, but there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area, including for devolution, and decisions will be on a case-by-case basis.”

I think this will mean conversations about how the five district councils and Peterborough come together. The populations for the different districts do not make for an obvious split if the target is 500K people.

Area	Population from 2021 census	Political leadership
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	894,522	Mayor is Labour
Cambridgeshire	678,849	NoC
Peterborough	215,673	NoC
Cambridge	145,674	Labour
East Cambridgeshire	87,762	NoC
Fenland	102,462	Conservative
Huntingdonshire	180,833	NoC
South Cambridgeshire	162,119	Lib Dem

 

How do these split up? Is it one big council? Do we see two unitary councils, with perhaps Hunts and Fenland joining Peterborough and City, South Cambs and East Cambs coming together? My guess is that there isn’t an easy solution given the different politics involved and the fact that everyone will want to keep their majorities, as well as the fact that the south of the county is generally better off than the north – expect some argument and horse-trading.

Do expect that we will be an early target for the government given that we were mentioned as an important region in this and the Invest 2035 green paper. But we are not in first round 2024–present structural changes to local government in England – Wikipedia despite some push to be by some parties.

Why is this important for the voluntary sector?

There is some mention of communities in the paper but it appears to be first and foremost about stimulating and enabling growth. That does not mean the sector should not pay attention. The combined authority will be given extra powers and funding, and in our case the mayor will likely become the de facto Police and Crime (and Fire) commissioner.

These reforms are expected to impact local charities in Cambridgeshire in several ways:

1. Restructuring of Local Authorities: As set out above, this will impact Cambridgeshire. Such restructuring will lead to changes in local governance, affecting how charities interact with councils. The councils will, as of necessity, turn their focus inwards as reorganisation takes up all their spare time. Relationships will change as people move, and there is a danger that there will be a rush to the bottom regarding how councils fund and support the sector rather than a move to embrace all that is positive. This is probably the key area that the sector needs to guard against, and Support Cambridgeshire will continue to advocate for a positive outcome for the sector. We need to ensure that funding is not reduced and that some of the positive steps in funding practice are not lost.
2. Enhanced Community Rights: The introduction of a Community Right to Buy empowers communities to purchase local assets, such as empty shops or community spaces, when they become available. This initiative offers local charities opportunities to acquire and manage assets beneficial to their missions, but in some areas funding will be an issue.
3. Devolution of Skills and Employment Support: The combined authority will gain control over non-apprenticeship adult skills funding and have joint ownership of Local Skills Improvement Plans. This shift allows for developing integrated plans tailored to local needs, potentially enabling charities to collaborate more effectively in delivering skills and employment support services. Some of these conversations are underway already and there are likely to be more opportunities for the sector to work with the combined authority.
4. Increased Local Authority Powers: Local councils will receive greater control over activities affecting health and environmental issues, along with enhanced protections for community assets and high streets. This empowerment could lead to more supportive environments for charities focused on health, environment, and community well-being.
5. Strengthened Partnerships: The White Paper emphasizes the importance of collaboration between councils and communities, aiming to end the “parent-child dynamic” between central and local government. This approach encourages a more meaningful partnership, potentially providing charities with greater influence in local decision-making processes.

While these proposed changes present opportunities for charities in Cambridgeshire, they also introduce uncertainties. Support Cambridgeshire will work to keep you informed and engaged. We will continue to work with our partners in the local authorities and the combined authority to ensure that the new organisations recognise the need to support and fund the local sector. We will ensure that we learn from the best of how the local partners work, and ensure that this becomes the benchmark against which to measure the offer from the new organisations.

A great LinkedIn post with loads of other links in the comments can be found here 

This is a bit more ‘political’, and there is an argument that these reforms will move local government further away from people by trying to install a ‘one size fits all’ approach to reorganisation. There is also a danger that reforms driven by a need to increase economic growth and potentially save money will focus less on what is important to the sector and the communities we work with. That said, there is some commitment to working with communities, and this does recognise the importance of finding some way to reduce the confusion about the different council layers that exist across the county. The paper states that

“Communities need power returned back to them. We want to support local people – those with skin in the game – so that they can better affect the decisions impacting their areas. However, we cannot expect anyone to feel empowered when they are living payslip to payslip, or stuck on a waiting list to get the services they need.

That is why the government’s approach to community empowerment will focus on putting people in control of their own lives, alongside devolving power away from Westminster. We will create new opportunities for communities to have a say in the future of their area and play a part in improving it, while acknowledging that this means nothing if people are not supported to live lives where they can contribute to this decision making.”

Part of the role of the sector is to ensure that local community voices are heard that we ensure that what comes out locally works, and that this really is about driving more power down to communities and not simply about more houses, more growth, and a top-down approach.