Devolving powers: why neighbourhoods hold the key to government success

Today sees the publication of The Future Governance Forum’s new report in partnership with Local Trust, titled Mission Critical 04: A new relationship between people and the state – a timely contribution in light of the government’s flagship Pride in Place strategy announced last month. 

The report, which builds on key insights from the Big Local programme, proposes a new way of working through which the government can best deliver its missions for national renewal. This will be essential if recent policy initiatives are to feel meaningful and impactful to the communities they are intended to support.

This new way of working requires a shift in both power and focus.  

• First, power needs to be decentralised and returned to communities. People need to have the power to make changes they want to see, in terms which are meaningful to them, and have the support to use that power effectively.  
• Second, the focus must be on neighbourhoods, particularly those doubly disadvantaged by high levels of deprivation and low stocks of social infrastructure, who have historically experienced wealth extraction rather than investment by the government. 

The need for genuine partnership with communities

Local Trust has long advocated for community-led investment, where the government and other funders act as genuine partners to local people, giving space and time for residents to come together and design more inclusive solutions to the challenges they want to prioritise.  

In the lead–up to the 2024 general election, we called on the next government to prioritise hyperlocal policies through neighbourhood governance and community control over funding decisions. Although great progress has been made towards this, how the government’s emerging neighbourhoods policy is delivered will be critical to its impact.  

A framework for implementation

A new relationship between people and the state proposes a framework for meaningful change:   

Outcomes: Delivering outcomes in the 21st century often requires policymaking that is both integrated and participatory, which is easier to achieve at a neighbourhood level. 

Power: Devolving power to the neighbourhood level must be supported by the resources and capacity to wield that power. There should be a supportive ecosystem of not just the devolving authority but also local leaders and organisations that can sustain change over time. 

Participation: The government should allow people to participate in decision making and give communities the capacity and resources to do so.  

These three shifts will enable neighbourhoods to be placed at the heart of policy. Whether its designing and considering the implementation of programmes such as Pride in Place, neighbourhood health or the ongoing Jobs Plus pilots, policymakers need to ensure neighbourhood thinking is joined up.  

Practical opportunities to make neighbourhood renewal real

The English Devolution Bill is an opportunity to connect the disparate policies operating or planned to operate at the neighbourhood level by building on the proposed requirement for all Mayoral Strategic Authorities to produce local growth plans, enhancing them to address increased growth within doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Taking community economic development approach to formulating these plans would bring together residents, community organisations, businesses and local government to focus on the economy of an area through a strengths-based approach, improving local social capital in the process.  

The Community Wealth Fund, recently announced by the government and the National Lottery Community Fund will invest in civic capacity where it is lowest. As the Fund moves to its delivery stage it must ensure that residents are supported to identify their priorities and preferred solutions to local challenges. This participatory approach should establish a new baseline for community engagement in policy implementation. 

The report suggests further ways to build on the Pride in Place programme and other neighbourhood policies, including by: 

• Making it easier to establish Parish Councils, or allowing other bodies to have equivalent powers as long as they meet the same assessment criteria, and improving the democratic credentials of such bodies, to deliver local services and enhance the quality of life in neighbourhoods. 

• Establishing a network of partners to support doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods to build their own social infrastructure, such as places for people to meet, organisations to represent them, and facilitation to build relationships, rooted in a robust theory of power. 

We are at the start of this government’s understanding of the importance of the neighbourhood level for its missions to succeed and renewal to become a story more equally shared across the country. We are very pleased to be partnering with The Future Governance Forum at this pivotal moment.

Read the report Mission Critical 04: A new relationship between people and the state on The Future Governance Forum’s website.