By the time we gather for the Local Transport Summit, the government’s much anticipated English Devolution White Paper will hopefully have been published, so we can see the level of ambition behind its plans. The next stages of devolution will inevitably open up a new level of engagement between different levels of government, and government departments, and the prize on offer is huge - especially for transport.

This past decade has actually seen the English devolution journey primarily powered and underpinned by transport, at the heart of the most significant developments in the devolution of functions and funds. But how did we get here, what’s next for transport devolution, and is it yet really delivering for local communities?

London’s transport devolution journey, which began in the late 1990s, has ever since been hailed as showing the true prize for transport devolution. More than a decade later, we saw Greater Manchester agree its first devolution deal in 2014 – beginning to ‘blaze the trail’ for the rest of the metropolitan areas- and beyond. Fast forward another 10 years and there are now 20 devolution deals across England, covering around two thirds of the nation’s population (although 10 of these still require local and/or Parliamentary ratification), with many more – mostly non-Mayoral - deals in the pipeline.

Greater Manchester, and West Midlands, have continued to lead the way with further powers now promised in the Budget through Trailblazer ‘integrated settlement’ deals. Meanwhile, outside London (which is now the only major city region without a long-term funding deal, something hopefully to be fixed soon), City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) have given longer-term certainty and greater autonomy for the city regions to deliver transport schemes.

The approach to devolution and negotiation of deals has changed and evolved over the years under different shades of governments. The new government has pinned much of its economic growth ambitions on city regions and Metro Mayors.

In the West Midlands, early analysis in the development of the CRSTS programme suggests that the investment proposed could deliver an 11-25% improvement in residents’ access to employment by public transport over the next 15 years.

Innovative and much needed projects and improvements are taking place in all city regions, spurred by progress on devolution, with perhaps the most recognisable change being driven by the yellow franchised buses, forming the cornerstone of Greater Manchester’s new Bee Network, the aspirational echo of the London system.

The Budget confirmed that the 2025-26 financial year will see the first integrated settlements for West Midlands and Greater Manchester Combined Authorities, delivered by a “single flexible pot of funding with a single outcomes framework”. The North East, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Liverpool City Region combined authorities will be eligible to receive these same powers from 2026-27.

Promised in the King’s Speech and also confirmed in the Budget, the government is set to bring forward their plans for “extending and deepening” English devolution through a new framework with further powers on offer.

It is still worth remembering that English devolution is still in its ‘forming’ stage, and there is significant space left for deepening powers and empowering local leaders. Urban Transport Group believes this should include expansion of devolved funds to all MCAs, granting of spatial powers to enable more integrated placemaking, clarity on combined Authority and Mayoral roles in rail, and, crucially, fiscal devolution.

Currently, 95p in every £1 paid in tax is collected by Whitehall. In comparison, the equivalent of 69p in the pound is collected by central government in Germany, enabling local government to fund its own responsibilities and plans without being overly reliant on centralised short-term grants. Lack of action on fiscal devolution and deepening of powers will stifle the real extent of the opportunity that devolution could unlock.

The last decade has seen English devolution begin to take shape. Whilst we celebrate the progress made, there is still more to be done to ensure the true prize of devolution can be delivered. It is a crucial element of the local transport equation, and sure to be something for lively discussion at the Summit this year.

Monta Drozdova is Policy and Research Advisor at the Urban Transport Group 

The article first appeared in Local Transport Today.

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