Agenda item

Rebecca Cox introduced the report which set out how the LGA Executive and Leadership Board had asked the People and Places Board to lead the LGA’s work on devolution and the future shape of local government. This paper provided an update on developments including the 4^th September devolution submissions; the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill; and the LGA support offer. 

Board members raised the following points in the discussion that followed:

·         There was a wide ranging discussion on the potential tension between building on the commonality between areas’ devolution bids, whilst also stressing that there will be no ‘one size fits all’ solution.

·         In re-designing services attention will need to be paid to the fact that geographical areas are unlikely to perfectly align with functional economic geographies and service delivery and market areas.

·         The Board’s work on devolution should encompass how to build an engaging narrative on devolution to better engage all councillors and share knowledge. Members discussed the business rates localisation announcement in relation to the emerging direction of travel for the devolution agenda.

Decision

The Board noted the report and instructed officers to amend the work programme as necessary in partnership with the Chair and Lead Members.