In the second of our new briefing series Policy in an Age of Uncertainty, Catherine Durose (Heseltine Institute co-director and Professor of Public Policy) and Vivien Lowndes (Professor Emerita of Public Policy at the Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham) ask: are there are benefits as well as problems with ‘incomplete’ devolution?
The landscape of English devolution is littered with reforms and plans that have been shelved, abandoned or replaced, and we usually think about this ‘incompleteness’ as evidence of failure. This briefing argues there are other ways to see ‘incompleteness’ which can help us deepen our understanding of potential futures for English city-regional devolution. Incompleteness is part of the devolution landscape and can enable city-regional actors to recognise their own agency and influence, and design institutions that can adapt to changing circumstances. It can also provide opportunities to open up devolution to more diverse voices, better reflect local insights and lived experience and deepen place-based democracy. Thinking about incompleteness could help policymakers make sense of the sub-national policy landscape and inform their activity, offering potential to adopt non-traditional approaches such as co-production.
Further detail on the research underpinning this policy briefing can be found in a recent article published in Environment and Planning C.
Access this policy briefing here:
Incomplete devolution: are there benefits as well as problems?
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