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Strategic authority

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Not to be confused with Strategic health authority.

A strategic authority is a public body introduced as part of English devolution. The term was applied retrospectively from December 2024, to refer to existing devolved public authorities in England that had been created since 2000. Strategic authorities became statutory in 2026 as part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.[1] Strategic authorities are categorised as foundation, mayoral, and established mayoral. This indicates how developed they are as structures to receive devolved powers and funding. As of June 2026, there are twenty strategic authorities made up of thirteen combined authorities, six combined county authorities and the Greater London Authority. All strategic authorities outside Greater London were voluntarily established by their constituent councils. All but foundation strategic authorities have a strategic authority mayor.

History

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Greater London Authority

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Main article: Greater London Authority

The first strategic authority was the Greater London Authority made up of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly that was established in 2000.[2]

Combined authorities and combined county authorities

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Main article: Combined authorities and combined county authorities

The opportunity to create a "combined authority" was established by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. In 2010, the Government accepted a proposal from the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities to establish a Greater Manchester Combined Authority, using the powers of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, as an indirectly elected top-tier strategic authority for Greater Manchester.[3] It was created on 1 April 2011. The Localism Act 2011 allowed additional transfers of powers from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and gave combined authorities a general power of competence.[4]

By 2016 combined authorities had been created covering all of the metropolitan counties which include conurbations of the largest cities outside London.[a] In 2016 and 2017, combined authorities started to be created for smaller city regions.[b] Any principal council can become a constituent member of a combined authority.

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduced a similar type of strategic authority outside Greater London, the "combined county authority". The key difference is that these authorities must include the whole area of one or more two-tier non-metropolitan counties. They may also include unitary authorities, but two-tier non-metropolitan districts cannot be constituent members.[5][c]

Since 2023 combined (county) authorities are being created for more rural areas.[d]

English devolution act

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Main article: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026

In December 2024 the Starmer ministry published a white paper which proposed that the Greater London Authority, combined authorities, and combined county authorities would be designated as strategic authorities. These authorities would have competence over transport and local infrastructure, skills and employment support, housing and strategic planning, economic development and regeneration, environment and climate change, health, wellbeing and public service reform, and public safety. The government said it intended to "complete the map" of devolution so every part of England would be covered by one strategic authority and one principal council.[1][6][7][e]

Categories

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There are three categories of strategic authority in England:[8][7]

Category Description Example References
Foundation Without an elected mayor. They receive basic devolved powers.
There are two sub-categories of foundation strategic authority:
 Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority[f] [9][10][11]
Mayoral With an elected mayor. They receive greater devolved powers. York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority[g] [9][10]
Established mayoral With an elected mayor in place for at least 18 months and has satisfied additional governance requirements. They receive the greatest devolved powers, notably including the Integrated Settlement, which allows more flexibility of devolved spending. Greater Manchester Combined Authority[h] [9][10][12][13]

Powers and functions

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Strategic authority mayors participating in a meeting of the Mayoral Council for England, May 2025

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 defines the competencies of strategic authorities as follows[14][15][7]

  • transport and local infrastructure, including the production of local transport plans
  • skills and employment support
  • housing and strategic planning, including the production of spatial development strategies[16]
  • economic development and regeneration
  • the environment and climate change
  • health, well-being and public service reform
  • public safety
  • culture
  • rural affairs and coastal communities

List of strategic authorities

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English strategic authorities as of June 2026
For a more comprehensive list, see List of strategic authorities.

As of June 2026, there are twenty strategic authorities:

Strategic authority Category Formed
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayoral 2 Mar 2017
Cheshire and Warrington Mayoral 24 Feb 2026
Cumbria Mayoral 24 Feb 2026
Devon and Torbay Foundation 5 Feb 2025
East Midlands Mayoral 27 Feb 2024
Greater Lincolnshire Mayoral 5 Feb 2025
Greater London Established mayoral 3 Jul 2000
Greater Manchester Established mayoral 1 Apr 2011
Hampshire and the Solent Mayoral 4 Jun 2026
Hull and East Yorkshire Mayoral 5 Feb 2025
Lancashire Foundation 5 Feb 2025
Liverpool City Region Established mayoral 1 Apr 2014
North East Established mayoral 7 May 2024
South Yorkshire Established mayoral 1 Apr 2014
Sussex and Brighton Mayoral 26 Mar 2026
Tees Valley Mayoral 1 Apr 2016
West Midlands Established mayoral 16 Jun 2016
West of England Mayoral 9 Apr 2017
West Yorkshire Established mayoral 1 Apr 2014
York and North Yorkshire Mayoral 20 Dec 2023

Partnership and cooperation

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Where strategic authorities have mayors, they are members of the Mayoral Council for England,[17] and of the UK-wide Council of the Nations and Regions,[18] both of which were established by the incoming Labour government in 2024.

The Great North

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In May 2025, eight strategic authority mayors from the North of England launched a partnership known as "The Great North". The partnership comprises 11 contiguous northern strategic authorities, eight of which are currently mayoral (Greater Manchester, Hull and East Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, North East, South Yorkshire, Tees Valley, West Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire) and three others (Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Lancashire). The partnership, whose brand is based on the Great North Run, will lead trade missions and focus on pan-North investment propositions including hosting a Northern investment summit.[19][20][21] Transport in The Great North partnership area has been integrated under the statutory body Transport for the North since 2018.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ These combined authorities were Liverpool City Region, North East, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and the West Midlands.
  2. ^ These combined authorities were Tees Valley, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and the West of England.
  3. ^ The combined county authorities were introduced to correct a problem with earlier legislation that had enabled county and district councils to block each other from joining combined authorities.[5]
  4. ^ The combined (county) authorities created since 2023 are York and North Yorkshire, East Midlands, Devon and Torbay, Greater Lincolnshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Sussex and Brighton, and Hampshire and the Solent.
  5. ^ Separately proposed was that the remaining parts of England with two-tier local government would be reorganised into unitary authorities
  6. ^ As of May 2026
  7. ^ As of May 2026
  8. ^ As of May 2026

References

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  1. ^ a b "Devolution White Paper: On-the-day factual briefing". Local Government Association. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  2. ^ Sandford, Mark (12 August 2024). "The Greater London Authority" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  3. ^ "John Denham – Greater Manchester to be country's first ever Combined Authority". The National Archives. The Department of Communities and Local Government. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Historic plans for the country's first ever Combined Authority covering the whole of Greater Manchester to drive locally the region's economic growth were launched by Communities Secretary John Denham today.
  4. ^ "The Localism Act 2011: a General Power of Competence" (PDF). Local Government Association. October 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  5. ^ a b "Combined County Authorities - key differences to Combined Authorities". Local Government Lawyer. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  6. ^ "Explaining more about the English Devolution White Paper". Centre for Governance and Scrutiny. 7 March 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  7. ^ a b c "Nine things we learned from the English devolution white paper". Institute for Government. 17 December 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  8. ^ Weakley, Kirsty (27 May 2026). "Devolution Act: What you need to know". Local Government Chronicle. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  9. ^ a b c "English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill : Guidance". GOV.UK. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  10. ^ a b c "Devolution and local government reorganisation FAQs and glossary". Local Government Association. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  11. ^ "What is devolution and how does it affect me?" (PDF). Warrington Voluntary Action. March 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  12. ^ "Integrated Settlement: policy document". GOV.UK. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  13. ^ Baker, Ian (17 November 2025). "Driving devolution: integrated settlements signal all change for transport infrastructure funding". WSP. Retrieved 23 May 2026.
  14. ^ "English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026: Section 2", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2026 c. 23 (s. 2), retrieved 23 May 2026
  15. ^ Hollander, Gavriel (1 May 2026). "Devolution bill's passing offers mayors and strategic authorities potential to boost development, sector bodies say". Inside Housing. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  16. ^ Clarke, Edward; Bowers, Dominic; Spry, Matthew (16 February 2026). "Spatial Development Strategy Geographies – Will the map change the landscape?". Lichfields. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  17. ^ "Deputy Prime Minister launches first-ever Mayoral Council". GOV.UK. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  18. ^ O'Grady, Sean (11 October 2024). "How will the new Council of the Nations and Regions tackle power-sharing challenges?". The Independent. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  19. ^ "The Great North unleashes new era of prosperity spearheaded by Northern Mayors". The Great North. 19 May 2025. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  20. ^ Tickell, Pamela (19 May 2025). "Northern mayors unveil investment partnership". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  21. ^ Gibson, Sally (19 May 2025). "Northern Mayors partner up to form The Great North". Place North West. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
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