Today the FT reports that Andy Burnham is drawing up plans for an aggressive programme of devolution, as the likely successor to Sir Keir Starmer prepares for a vital speech on the economy with one eye on Labour MPs and the other on the bond markets.

Burnham has signalled that he wants to shift more power from Westminster to local communities if he becomes prime minister, citing the success of Manchester’s economy as a sign of what can be achieved by granting greater autonomy to local areas.

However, opposition is mounting amongst 18 County Councils over the way Starmer’s government is proceeding. See below – Owl

Sam Fleming, George Parker www.ft.com (Exttract)

One ally of Burnham said: “You can expect the speech to touch on building an economy that works for everyone in every place. Communities across the country with a huge contribution to make that have been looked past by Westminster for too long.”

One idea his advisers have discussed is designating a government department with responsibility for finding powers that could be hived off from Whitehall and devolved to regional authorities.

The move would come on top of a plan already being drawn up inside the Treasury to give localities greater power over their own finances as they benefit more from the fruits of growing their economies.

Burnham has been taking advice from Andy Haldane, former Bank of England chief economist and an FT contributing editor, as well as Lord Jim O’Neill, former Goldman Sachs chief economist and ex-Treasury minister, and Richard Hughes, former chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, among other economists. Some may join him in government.

One ally said: “Andy wants to create regional engines of growth.” Another said: “There are some clear policy strands emerging, including more devolution to localities — including fiscal devolution — and the need for more creative thinking on infrastructure spending.”

A spokesperson for Burnham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile is the only way Essex?

The Reform controlled Essex County Council confirmed on 19 June that it intends to submit a judicial review on proposals for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Greater Essex.

The Government-led proposal would see the existing 15 councils in Greater Essex replaced with five, all-purpose, unitary authorities rather than the three unitary proposal made by the council.

There are also media reports that Norfolk County Council rejects the Government proposal to replace it by three unitaries instead of the one they proposed. Norfolk County Council has a Reform majority of 40 seats out of 84.

Owl has already reported (4 June) Julian Brazil, the Liberal Democrat leader of Devon county council, saying that the reorganisation proposals preferred by Labour were the “archetypal gerrymander”, adding: “They are trying to expand Labour cities as big as they can get in order to maintain some kind of control.” As he added his signature to the letter signed by the 16  Councils still awaiting decisions.

What did the Labour 2024 Manifesto say about English Devolution?

The 2024 Labour Manifesto shifted away from the proposals announced in its Power and Partnership plan published earlier that year to expand devolution across the whole of England by asking all councils not currently in a combined authority or county devolution deals to “join together on sensible economic geographies and take on a new suite of powers”. The earlier “devolution everywhere’ approach did not made the manifesto, which promised only to “widen devolution to more areas”. [Owl emphasis]