Councils must be at the heart of devolution

Posted on August 11, 2026

In an interview with the Express, our Chair, Mayor Chris Cooke, emphasises the need for councils to be at the heart of the Government’s devolution plans, whilst warning that new funding for mayors must not come at the expense of already-pressured local authorities.

'Andy Burnham has been told his devolution plans could do more harm than good in some of the country’s most deprived communities unless he involves local councils. The warning came from Chris Cooke, the Labour mayor of Middlesbrough and chairman of a group representing 50 urban authorities in the Northern, Midland and South-coast regions of England.

He urged the Prime Minister to consult council leaders about plans to transfer power out of Westminster. Mr Burnham’s proposals include handing regional mayors a share of income tax revenues for the first time. But the focus has been on regional mayors and combined authorities, while smaller local councils say they must also be included in the plans.

Mr Cooke said handing power to a small number of regional mayors “doesn’t feel like it’s moved much closer to the people”.

He said it would be “incredibly dangerous” if devolution meant funding was cut from local councils and handed to regional bodies instead.

“If you want to talk about how we can affect local communities in a much closer and more accurate way, then actually that’s the role of local councils, which are much better placed to understand areas.”

Regional bodies were able to deliver large infrastructure projects, he said, “but it can get much more difficult to understand what is needed at street level”.

There is also concern that allowing regions to raise more funding locally, for example through local income taxes or retaining business rates, could disadvantage areas with high levels of poverty or unemployment.

Many of the authorities in the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities, which Mr Cooke chairs, have high levels of deprivation.

Urging ministers to include councils in discussions about devolution plans, he said: "This matters for our residents, this matters for our towns and our cities, and we want to be at the table, we want to be there.”'

You can read the full article in the Express here.