Everything in its right place: establishing strong organisations and practices for successful devolution 

Devolution will not succeed on legislation and structure alone. It will succeed, or fail, on whether institutions are ready. 

“Everything in its right place: establishing strong organisations and practices for successful devolution” is a new research project, undertaken by Localis and Local Partnerships, aiming to understand how combined authorities have evolved and should continue evolving in the future. 

The report highlights that greater autonomy will only succeed where authorities have the capability and confidence to use it. This means strong financial management and clear governance. 

As a trusted public sector delivery partner, Local Partnerships supports authorities to build that capability, helping the move from managing grants to leading investment and managing risk. 

A core theme of the report is that places understand the need for place-based policy and “place” conceptually, but it remains difficult to translate it into investable programmes. Combined authorities are expected to shape economic growth and deliver long term outcomes. 

Local Partnerships supports authorities to make that shift by aligning strategies with deliverable programmes and linking investment pipelines to growth plans. 

The report is clear that Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is not a side issue, but a defining challenge for devolution. While reorganisation has the potential to strengthen strategic capacity, it also introduces risks. It could disrupt services and slow delivery at a critical time. 

For combined authorities operating across changing systems, maintaining momentum will be essential. Local Partnerships has supported authorities across all tiers of LGR to ensure that transformation strengthens, rather than destabilises, the delivery of devolution. 

By learning from a wide range of first-hand perspectives, “Everything in its right place” has developed an actionable framework for learning that can be applied across the country.