The leaders of the 32 London boroughs have issued a united cross-party call for a new devolution settlement for the capital, seeking a formal decision-making role alongside the Mayor of London.
In a joint public statement, the borough leaders argue that establishing joint decision-making arrangements over relevant powers and funding is essential for enabling London to deliver more quickly and build long-term resilience into its devolution framework.
Currently, boroughs lack any formal decision-making role within the Greater London Authority, unlike the devolved arrangements in Combined Authority areas such as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. With London’s devolution settlement now a quarter-century old, the boroughs describe the forthcoming English Devolution Bill as a “golden opportunity” to modernise devolution in the capital and legislate for bespoke joint decision-making arrangements.
London Councils Chair Cllr Claire Holland said:
“The prospect of more devolved powers and funding to the capital is an exciting one – but we must ensure London’s devolution settlement works as effectively and efficiently as possible.
"Giving boroughs a seat at the table and a proper say in regional decision-making will put us in a far stronger position to tackle the challenges we face as a city and drive growth in London.
“We have worked hard to build cross-party consensus across the 32 boroughs for a pragmatic solution that enables joint decision-making. We must seize this opportunity to hardwire collaboration between the Mayor and boroughs into our devolution deal so that we can all deliver better outcomes for Londoners.”
Given London’s size and unique devolution history, the boroughs are advocating for bespoke arrangements rather than a full Mayoral Combined Authority. London Councils has proposed a ‘Combined Board’ model, comprising the Mayor of London and London Councils’ Executive Committee, responsible for decision-making over devolved powers and funding, similar to Mayoral Combined Authorities. This model aims to bring London in line with other devolution deals, enabling quicker and more effective decision-making, improving outcomes for Londoners, and ensuring better value for money.
However, if current arrangements are maintained, London leaders warn they could become the only local authority leaders in the country denied a formal say over the Strategic Authority for their region, potentially leaving the capital in a worse position.
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