Theme 1

Quick take

The removal of Regional Development Agencies and the Localism Act 2011 has driven most spatial and development planning to a very local level.

At the same time, much significant strategic infrastructure planning continues to be undertaken by national bodies on a sectoral basis, rather than being place-based. The result is a system that is simultaneously unresponsive to regional needs and unable to see the bigger picture when it comes to planning for strategic growth.

Key decisions about economic growth, housing and infrastructure need to take place at a regional level, responding to on-the-ground needs and addressing local concerns in order to deliver the new major infrastructure that will ultimately create successful places.

We welcome proposals that regional Mayors will have the ability to call in planning applications of strategic importance, as the Mayor of London is currently able to: this should help to balance local concerns with regional and national needs in a way that the Secretary of State cannot.

Better reflecting England’s economic geographies

The most significant headline from the English Devolution White Paper is the reorganisation of local government to form new strategic authorities.

Existing unitary authorities have been asked to submit proposals to form larger units with populations of 500,000 or more people. The government is then aiming for all local authorities to form strategic authorities of more than 1.5M people, or at least three of these newly formed larger local authorities. It’s worth noting that for existing combined authorities this will be little more than a rebranding and the importance of this is the universality across England of strategic authorities.

The size and shape of these strategic authorities is now to be determined. This major reorganisation presents a generational opportunity to fundamentally rethink how local government, and many places, function.

In the short-term, operational efficiency gains could be a benefit of these changes, but the long-term prize is for strategic authorities to better represent the local economic, cultural and functional geographies of England. Areas should come together to forge a vision for what a place could look like. In creating these new geographies there is the opportunity to consider commuting patterns, connected public service provision, culture and identity, physical geography and ensuring enough scale to achieve meaningful strategic decision-making.

Investment in infrastructure will be pivotal. In the past this has meant focusing on transport, which has always been seen as crucial to forming economic geographies and, while ensuring people can get around easily remains important, two new trends are also evident.

First, there is a move towards greater densification driven by a desire for improved accessibility and lower carbon footprints, both of which promote the merits of urban rather than suburban living, including the health benefits of active travel.

Second, there is much greater interest in non-transport infrastructure, including facilities for education and healthcare, water, digital connectivity and, particularly, nature and energy. Energy is of notable new significance as it is crucial to addressing climate change by electrifying the economy and improving resilience through localised electricity generation and use, whilst also presenting an opportunity for enhanced local employment.

By forming more representative economic areas, strategic authorities can better enable desirable development patterns, deliver infrastructure more rationally and ensure equitable access to new and existing opportunities.

A major barrier to success in this area will be overcoming local politics. Greater Manchester has benefitted from a relatively homogenous political make up while the West Midlands and Tees Valley have overcome party differences through non-partisan collective decision-making. An important lesson for all new strategic authorities is that working together has helped to fuel progress.

Buy-in from all areas within a devolved region to the structures that have been established has also been important. As further strategic authorities are set up, this must continue to be an important consideration to mitigate the risk of people feeling disenfranchised and becoming disengaged. Regional centres should be integrated with local communities and the benefits of strategic authorities should be fair and well-communicated to all areas.

Spatial Development Strategies (SDS)

SDS will provide a framework for sustainable development in local areas, addressing key issues such as housing, economic growth, transport and social infrastructure and environmental protection. Acting to an extent as larger-scale local plans, use of an SDS aims to ensure that development is well-coordinated and meets the long-term needs of residents. Examples of SDSs include the London Plan and Places for Everyone in Greater Manchester.

From our experience and interactions with city leaders, the benefits of the SDS approach are myriad. They include better alignment between development and strategic infrastructure delivery, joined-up long-term thinking about enduring planning policy questions - such as greenbelt designations - and, ultimately, providing greater certainty for all stakeholders. By making a clear statement about the objectives and plans of local authorities, an SDS helps investors commit to a local area, local businesses to expand in relevant fields and individuals to decide where to upskill. An SDS also allows the public to understand and support actions being taken in their name.

The challenges of achieving political and technical buy-in across all local authorities are evident from the limited adoption across existing combined authorities. The introduction of simple majority voting in strategic authority areas should help to facilitate these plans, given that in the past more tactical approaches have often stalled due to local vetoes.

A significant concern remains the length of time required to produce plans of this nature. A more standardised approach, perhaps through an unrestrictive framework, might speed up the process by avoiding each strategic authority navigating the negotiations alone. This could include timetable restrictions, similar to the 30 month deadline for the new local plan development process. More detail on the process of SDS development is likely to be set out in guidance once the Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been adopted.

Aligning transport and development

One of the benefits of setting up strategic authorities is that they will have increased powers to align transport and housing development via the SDS. 

Already we have seen significant progress in the existing combined authorities, including the Bee Network in Greater Manchester, West Midlands Metro expansion and plans for the return of light rail in West Yorkshire.

However, the picture has not been one of universal success. The New Economics Foundation’s Car Dependency Index (CDI) found that, in all regions outside London, new build housing has a greater reliance on the private car for access than existing homes in the area.

This increased car dependency results in weaker productivity due to traffic delays, social isolation and wider environmental issues, including the externalities of air and noise pollution in built-up areas.

Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework around “vision-led” planning should support strategic authorities that wish to address this productivity concern, with traffic impacts only being considered a barrier to development when impacts are severe “in all scenarios”. This may help speed up the application process and, perhaps, create the additional scrutiny needed to steer development away from undue of highways infrastructure.

At a national level, the introduction of mandatory consultation for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects by strategic authorities is a positive step forward for ensuring regional considerations are met by the largest transport projects. However, this is necessary but not sufficient; what is also needed is meaningful, well-coordinated and sustained investment in high-quality local public transport and active travel infrastructure to support substantive modal shift. While not to prejudge the outcomes of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which is due to be published in late spring 2025, this looks challenging to achieve in the current fiscal environment. Also important, and perhaps more deliverable in the short-term, is to give strategic authorities a formal voice in the development of the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy and in managing the pipeline embodied within it.

Rail devolution

Devolved authorities have led the way in recent years when it comes to delivering new and improved public transport systems. For example, the Liverpool City Region has invested in new rolling stock, as well as its “Access for All” programme that aims to ensure green, accessible and affordable transport across the city region. Greater Manchester will become the first city region outside of London to enable integrated ticketing across transport modes in spring 2025.

Further steps towards devolution of local rail networks presents a major opportunity to reshape how services, stations and ticketing are delivered in pursuit of streamlined and low carbon access provision.

The English Devolution White Paper recognises the importance of considering regional concerns in rail planning, with mayors gaining a statutory role in the national rail planning process.

The new “right to request” further devolution of rail services proposed for established combined authorities, up to and including passing full control to them of defined local services, is welcome. Although there is much work to do to establish what is possible in each geography given the varying performance of existing services, with the right levels of investment this could transform the way services match up with local economic and social needs.

Energy

The English Devolution White Paper gives new powers to strategic authorities over their local and national energy systems, including:

• Retrofit funding through integrated settlements
• Involvement in delivering Great British Energy’s Local Power Plans
• Becoming the zoning co-ordinators for local heat networks, feeding into the National Energy System.

As outlined in Mott MacDonald’s 'A place-based approach to net zero' paper, which was published in 2021, an increased local focus on energy can accelerate the national energy agenda. More recent work by Cities Commission for Climate Investment and the UK100 network of local government leaders illustrates that action at the regional and local level is essential to a driving a successful and just path to energy security and net zero. The work also highlights the role of decentralised solutions alongside national ones. The government and Great British Energy have also been very positive about the role to be played by local area energy plans, which are a way to join up regional and local needs with respect to the three devolved energy themes noted above of retrofit, local power and heat networks. Giving strategic authorities a formal role in developing and delivering the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy will also help.

The English Devolution White Paper paves the way for regionally based scale-up programmes in all three of the areas outlined for energy devolution. The approach would enable exploration of the sweet spot between provision of local solutions, with their associated growth in local employment, and the economies of scale that are essential to lower the cost of delivery. It provides the opportunity to create the certainty needed for stakeholders to invest in local supply side technologies and skills, as well as speaking to the visible local championing of solutions that institutional investors need for de-risking significant green investment.

It is clear that a more long-term approach to energy planning is needed, factoring in expected development rather than simply planning to meet current demand. Over time it is anticipated that local area energy planning will become a cornerstone of spatial development plans, much as transport proposals are today.

In exercising these new powers, it is likely that the existing tension between energy planning and local development timelines will be highlighted. For example, in planning the move from local fossil fuelled heating towards decarbonised electricity solutions such as heat pumps, the District Network Operator responsible for providing the increased electricity capacity is expected to have long lead times for grid upgrades, capacity and connection applications. This will likely be slower than the pace at which the local or regional authority is expecting to move. Finding a way to address this tension will be vital.

Other changes also matter. Through 'A place-based approach to net zero' and our work supporting major cities, such as London and Glasgow, it has been re-emphasised that greater autonomy in leadership, planning and funding will increase the ability of strategic authorities to draw in private investment. This will help deliver local decarbonisation and generate the associated jobs effectively and affordably across asset classes and technology solutions.

Local Power Plans, developed alongside devolved authorities, are a step in the right direction, but work is needed to clarify the governance arrangements for these plans. For example, keeping in mind that true devolution is about increased powers, not just an increased voice, Great British Energy, the NESO and devolved authorities should work together in a spirit of true collaboration and partnership to deliver the best possible outcomes.

Regional mayors are uniquely positioned to achieve public buy-in for new energy infrastructure and investments, in areas such as home heat, as their popularity and visibility is significantly higher than national and other local politicians. This makes the formal role we envisage for strategic authorities in the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy all the more important, giving UK-wide projects and initiatives the credibility of having been informed by regional and local concerns. By working alongside national bodies, regional mayors and authorities will have a crucial role in achieving net zero and delivering economic growth in England and across the UK.