The leaders of the 32 London boroughs have made a united cross-party call for “a seat at the table” as part of a new devolution settlement for the capital.
In a joint public statement, the 32 leaders argue establishing joint decision-making arrangements between the Mayor and the boroughs over relevant powers and funding is critical for enabling London to deliver more quickly and build long-term resilience into the capital’s devolution arrangements.
Boroughs currently lack any formal decision-making role within the Greater London Authority – in contrast to the devolved arrangements in Combined Authority areas such as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
With London’s devolution settlement now a quarter-century old, boroughs describe the forthcoming English Devolution Bill as a “golden opportunity” to modernise devolution in the capital and legislate for bespoke joint decision-making arrangements.
Given the capital’s size and unique devolution history, boroughs are making the case for bespoke arrangements in London, rather than a full Mayoral Combined Authority. London Councils has a proposed a ‘Combined Board’ model – made up of the Mayor of London and London Councils’ Executive Committee – which would be responsible for decision-making over devolved powers and funding on a similar basis to Mayoral Combined Authorities.
This would bring London in line with other devolution deals and enable quicker and more effective decision-making, as well as improving outcomes for Londoners and ensuring better value for money.
However, if current arrangements are maintained London leaders warn they could become the only local authority leaders in the country denied a formal say over the Strategic Authority for their region, leaving the capital in a worse position.
Cllr Claire Holland, Chair of London Councils, said:
“The prospect of more devolved powers and funding to the capital is an exciting one – but we must ensure London’s devolution settlement works as effectively and efficiently as possible.
"Giving boroughs a seat at the table and a proper say in regional decision-making will put us in a far stronger position to tackle the challenges we face as a city and drive growth in London.
“We have worked hard to build cross-party consensus across the 32 boroughs for a pragmatic solution that enables joint decision-making. We must seize this opportunity to hardwire collaboration between the Mayor and boroughs into our devolution deal so that we can all deliver better outcomes for Londoners.”
The future of London devolution
A joint statement from the 32 London borough leaders
The English Devolution Bill is a golden opportunity to modernise London’s devolution settlement and ensure it enables us to deliver the best possible outcomes for Londoners.
As leaders of London’s 32 boroughs, we are committed to making the most of this moment for our city and the communities we serve.
London’s devolution settlement was designed in a different century, for a different era, and is in urgent need of an update. The status quo is not good enough – in fact, it is holding London back.
Currently, boroughs have no formal decision-making role within the Greater London Authority, in contrast to Combined Authorities elsewhere in the country.
Without a change to current arrangements, we could become the only upper-tier council leaders in the country without a formal say over the decisions of their region’s Strategic Authority.
We want to see the English Devolution Bill used to create new arrangements for London that give boroughs a seat at the table. By enabling formal joint decision-making between the Mayor and boroughs over relevant powers and funding, including any future integrated settlement, London will be brought more in line with other parts of the country.
Not only will this ensure consistency across England, it will be critical for London’s ability to accelerate delivery, boost growth and ensure value for money as part of an integrated settlement. Ultimately, it will make us better equipped to improve the lives of Londoners.
London currently relies on voluntary collaboration between the Mayor and boroughs. Over the years, we’ve seen what we can achieve by working together, but we’ve also seen the limitations of the current system. The lack of formal arrangements and need to negotiate on a case-by-case basis inevitably slows down decision-making and limits our ability to make the best use of our collective resources. This absence of formal structures for joint decision-making also means the capital’s current devolution settlement lacks resilience.
The government has set out a clear direction of travel in the English Devolution White Paper, with the intention for all parts of England to have a Mayoral Strategic Authority and for the Greater London Authority to be designated as the Mayoral Strategic Authority for London.
We recognise London is unique and needs bespoke arrangements for joint decision-making between the Mayor and boroughs, rather than replicating the Mayoral Combined Authority model. That’s why we have come together as 32 boroughs to propose a tailored model of joint decision-making for London.
We have proposed a ‘Combined Board’, made up of the Mayor of London and the 12 members of London Councils’ cross-party Executive Committee, building on existing ways of working between the GLA and London Councils. This could be responsible for decision-making over relevant powers and funding devolved to the regional level, in a similar way to Mayoral Combined Authorities.
Through London Councils, we have shown that we are more than capable of working together on a cross-party basis to take collective decisions on a whole range of issues, in the best interests of the city. And through our work with the Mayor and the GLA, we have shown that when we collaborate across all tiers of government, we can achieve far more for our residents. Now we have the opportunity to put that voluntary collaboration on a formal footing, building resilience into the London system and strengthening our collective ability to deliver for Londoners.
We want London to continue to succeed as a global capital city and having a Mayor who is empowered to advocate for London on the national and international stage is a vital part of that – but we cannot let boroughs be left behind. If we do, we will limit our city’s ability to drive the inclusive economic growth and positive change that we all want to see.
Together, we can make sure London has the powers, funding and structures it needs to tackle the challenges we face, deliver better outcomes for Londoners and serve the needs of our capital city for decades to come.
Signed by
Cllr Dominic Twomey, Barking and Dagenham
Cllr Barry Rawlings, Barnet
Cllr Baroness O’Neill OBE, Bexley
Cllr Muhammed Butt, Brent
Cllr Colin Smith, Bromley
Cllr Richard Olszewski, Camden
Mayor Jason Perry, Croydon
Cllr Peter Mason, Ealing
Cllr Ergin Erbil, Enfield
Cllr Anthony Okereke, Greenwich
Mayor Caroline Woodley, Hackney
Cllr Stephen Cowan, Hammersmith and Fulham
Cllr Peray Ahmet, Haringey
Cllr Paul Osborn, Harrow
Cllr Ray Morgon, Havering
Cllr Ian Edwards, Hillingdon
Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, Hounslow
Cllr Una O’Halloran, Islington
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Kensington and Chelsea
Cllr Andreas Kirsch, Kingston upon Thames
Cllr Claire Holland, Lambeth
Mayor Brenda Dacres, Lewisham
Cllr Ross Garrod, Merton
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, Newham
Cllr Kam Rai, Redbridge
Cllr Gareth Roberts, Richmond
Cllr Kieron Williams, Southwark
Cllr Barry Lewis, Sutton
Mayor Lutfur Rahman, Tower Hamlets
Cllr Simon Hogg, Wandsworth
Cllr Grace Williams, Waltham Forest
Cllr Adam Hug, Westminster