Devolution Priority Programme

The Devolution Priority Programme was announced by the UK government in 2025 in line with the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The areas included within the programme will gain additional powers via new combined authorites.

History

In February 2025 six areas were announced for the programme.[1] In December 2025, mayoral elections were delayed from 2026 to 2028 in four of the priority programme areas.[2] If February 2026, two of the six combined authorities were formally established through secondary legislation.[3]

Summary

As of March 2026, the status of the programe is as follows:

Combined authority Status Devolution area LGR S.I. Created First election Ref.
Cheshire and Warrington Formally established, awaiting mayoral powers
None Made 24 February 2026 2027 [4][5]
Cumbria Formally established, awaiting mayoral powers
None Made 24 February 2026 2027 [6][7]
Greater Essex Not yet formally established
Yes Expected 2026 Expected 2028 [2]
Hampshire and the Solent Not yet formally established
Yes Expected 2026 Expected 2028 [2]
Norfolk and Suffolk Not yet formally established
Yes Expected 2026 Expected 2028 [2]
Sussex and Brighton Not yet formally established
Yes Expected 2026 Expected 2028 [2]

See also

References

  1. ^ MacMakon, Jim; Rayner, Angela. "Devolution revolution: six areas to elect Mayors for first time". GOV.UK. UK Government. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e McKiernan, Jennifer (4 December 2025). "New mayoral elections to be delayed in four areas of England". BBC News. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  3. ^ Onsori, Zahra (27 February 2026). "Two strategic authorities formed". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  4. ^ Watterson, Kaleigh (25 February 2026). "Cheshire and Warrington combined authority comes into force". BBC News. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  5. ^ "The Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority Order 2026" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. 23 February 2026. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  6. ^ Jonny, Manning (24 February 2026). "Cumbria Combined Authority formally created by government". BBC News. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  7. ^ "The Cumbria Combined Authority Order 2026" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. 23 February 2026. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.