Devolution is about more than acquiring powers
Strategic Authorities have an opportunity to reshape how public services work – argues Claire Dhami, Head of Systems Change and Inclusion at West Midlands Combined Authority – but that will require them to act as stewards of whole systems: connecting reform with innovation, investing in prevention and shifting power closer to communities.
As devolution accelerates and the government is developing its plans to rewire the relationship between national, regional and local government and communities, we’ve been exploring what this changing landscape means for Strategic Authorities.
Through New Local’s new MSA Network, we’re bringing together people working at the heart of these changes to share what they are learning and grapple with some of the practical questions involved.
Claire argues that the opportunity goes well beyond acquiring new powers and responsibilities. The real prize, she says, is using devolution to change how public services work: joining up systems around shared outcomes, creating the conditions for prevention and innovation and ultimately shifting power closer to people.
As the conversation about devolution accelerates, there is a risk that we define success by the number of powers transferred, the size of budgets devolved or the number of new responsibilities acquired. While these things matter, they are not enough. The real test of the next generation of public service reform is whether we use devolution to improve people’s lives, tackle inequalities and create the conditions for communities to thrive.
For me, public service reform has two closely connected dimensions. The first is reform: the rewiring of the state through devolution, integrated settlements, place-based budgeting and new relationships between national, regional and local government. The second is innovation: changing how change happens through experimentation, learning and working alongside communities to develop new approaches to long-standing challenges. Structural reform without innovation risks simply reorganising existing systems. Innovation without reform risks creating interesting pilots that never influence the wider system.
Strategic Authorities are uniquely placed to connect these two agendas. They should be thought of less as organisations that directly deliver services and more as stewards of whole systems, helping places and partners align around shared outcomes and creating the leadership, governance and relationships needed for collaboration. The challenges facing places today, whether economic inactivity, poor health, youth unemployment, community safety or housing insecurity, do not fit neatly into organisational boundaries. They require collective action across public services, employers, communities and the voluntary sector.
In practice, this means bringing partners together around shared ambitions. Not because Strategic Authorities hold all the levers, but because they can create space for difficult conversations, support collective decision-making and build the trust needed for long-term systems change.
One of the strongest messages from our MSA Network discussions so far has been that relationships, shared capability and partnership infrastructure are not soft activities. They are the foundations that make devolution meaningful in practice.
Strategic Authorities also have a vital role in helping the public sector shift from managing demand to preventing demand. Across the country, services are under pressure and continuing to focus primarily on crisis response is neither sustainable nor desirable. Strategic Authorities can help partners come together around prevention, support place-based approaches and create environments where innovation can flourish.
However, innovation should never become an end in itself.
One of the lessons we have learned through public service innovation work in the West Midlands is that success is not measured by the number of pilots we create. It is measured by whether learning influences mainstream systems. The challenge is not the 10% of activity that is innovative; it is ensuring that the learning from that 10% reshapes the other 90%. Strategic Authorities are well placed to connect experimentation, evidence and implementation at scale. But that requires national government to devolve not only responsibilities, but the means to exercise them. Long-term, flexible funding, the ability to access and link data responsibly, and accountability frameworks built around shared outcomes rather than individual programme outputs are essential if Strategic Authorities are to integrate services, invest in prevention and apply learning at scale. Without these conditions, devolution risks transferring pressure rather than power.
Most importantly, the next generation of public service reform should not simply be about shifting power from Whitehall to Strategic Authorities. It should be about shifting power closer to people. Strategic Authorities should not become more interventionist institutions sitting between local and national government. Instead, they should create the conditions that allow local authorities, anchor institutions, voluntary organisations and communities themselves to shape and drive change. If we are serious about better outcomes, we must move beyond consultation and towards genuine co-production and shared ownership.
Public service reform and economic growth can’t be treated as separate agendas. Good health, secure housing, skills and opportunity aren’t just social outcomes they are the foundations of economic growth. Strategic Authorities can help ensure that economic, social and environmental outcomes are pursued together rather than in isolation.
I joined the MSA Network because no single place has all the answers to the challenges we face. The conversations I’ve found most valuable are those that explore the practical realities of systems change – how we build trust, embed prevention, share power and create the conditions for lasting change. I am always excited by discussions around community power, place-based reform and how Strategic Authorities can create the conditions for innovation and prevention to flourish.
The next few years present a rare opportunity. If Strategic Authorities focus solely on acquiring powers, we will have missed the point. If we use those powers to build stronger systems, stronger partnerships and stronger communities, devolution has the potential to become one of the most significant public service reform opportunities of a generation.
Join the conversation
These are questions we’ll continue to explore through our MSA Network. If this piece prompts a different perspective, builds on your own experience or raises a question you think the network should be grappling with, we’d like to hear from you. Get in touch with Laura Payne, Head of Networks, New Local.
Join our mailing list