 A Whitehall perspective on decentralisation in England’s emerging territoriesSarah Ayres and Graham Pearce Local Economy, 2013, vol. 28, issue 7-8, 801-816 Abstract: Decentralisation is a key thread running through current UK policy making. The Coalition Government has abolished New Labour’s regional legacy in favour of a new set of strategies around growth and development that has tapped into the localist agenda. Drawing on a series of recent interviews conducted with civil servants, this article explores government initiatives aimed at enhancing local autonomy in England and provides new empirical insights into decentralisation from a Whitehall perspective. It examines departmental aspirations for decentralised structures and Whitehall perceptions of the capacity of local arrangements to successfully manage territorial development in an era of austerity. The article concludes that, in the fields of economic development, planning and transport, there are signs of enhanced local policy and fiscal autonomy. However, there are different levels of enthusiasm for decentralisation across and within Whitehall departments that continue to undermine a more cohesive approach. Keywords: City Deals; decentralisation; economic development; Local Enterprise Partnerships; localism; planning; territorial development; Whitehall (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:loceco:v:28:y:2013:i:7-8:p:801-816 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Local Economy from London South Bank University |
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