The government’s devolution plans are centred on devolving more powers out of Whitehall into the hands of the local leaders, and giving local places control of key policy areas like skills, transport, and housing. But questions remain about how this will work in practice.

At the 2025 Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Bournemouth we explored the key steps that local places need to take to develop an effective economic strategy.

Our speakers included:
➡️ Baroness Pinnock, Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson on Housing, Communities and Local Government
➡️ Professor Lisa Collins, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Surrey
➡️ Councillor Lorna Dupre, Deputy Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council
➡️ Rebecca McKee Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government

This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

This event was held in partnership with the University of Surrey.

How can local places ensure devolution delivers economic growth?

Devolution - Feral - FREE DL

This event is part of the Institute for Government's Labour Party Conference 2025 fringe programme.

Speakers:

Maya Ellis MP, Member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee
Mayor Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region
Professor Lisa Collins, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation at the University of Surrey
Dr Rebecca McKee, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government

This event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

This event was held in partnership with the University of Surrey. 

How can local places maximise the benefits of devolution to drive economic growth?

This event is part of the Institute for Government's Labour Party Conference 2025 fringe programme.

Speakers: 

Alison McGovern MP, Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester
Bassam Mahfouz AM, Chair of Greater London Authority Oversight Committee
Deputy Mayor Nadine Peatfield, Deputy Mayor of East Midlands Combined Authority
Cllr Bella Sankey, Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council
This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

This event was held in partnership with Policy@Manchester - The University of Manchester.

How can mayors improve skills and productivity to drive regional growth?

This event is part of the Institute for Government's Labour Party Conference 2025 fringe programme.

Speakers: 

Katherine Fairclough, Chief Executive of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Council & Corporate Portfolio Holder at City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Sue Jarvis, Co-Director at Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place
Dr Henry Kippin, Chief Executive of North East Combined Authority

This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

This event was held in partnership with the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

How should the government successfully implement and enhance devolution across the North of England?

This event is part of the Institute for Government's Conservative Party Conference 2025 fringe programme.

Speakers:

David Simmonds MP, Shadow Minister for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Dr Tom Arnold, Research Associate at the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place
Cllr Abi Brown OBE, Deputy Leader of the Local Government Association Conservative Group
Helen Gbormittah, Regional Director, North West at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

This event was held in partnership with the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool.

How should devolution across the North of England be successfully implemented and enhanced?

This event is part of the Institute for Government's Conservative Party Conference 2025 fringe programme.

Speakers:

Mayor Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester
Cllr Louise McKinlay, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communities, Economic Growth and Prosperity at Essex County Council

This event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.


The IfG DevoLab is a new initiative from the Institute for Government dedicated to exploring the innovations enabled by devolution, learning from the results, and sharing the lessons so that places can take better decisions about how to use devolved powers and budgets.  

On 6 November, the IfG hosted its third IfG DevoLab event in Leeds, at which speakers from three regions set out how the powers and profile of mayors are being used to improve transport connectivity within and between their regions. 

The three case studies presented at IfG DevoLab #3 were:

‘Improving transport connectivity in West Yorkshire’, by Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford City Council and Chair of the West Yorkshire Transport Committee
‘Connecting Liverpool City Region through Merseyrail’, by Huw Jenkins, Lead Officer - Transport Policy at Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
‘Mayoral partnerships with Great British Railways’ by Richard Crabtree, Head of Mayoral Partnerships at Shadow Great British Railways 
The three speakers were joined by Tom Bridges, UK Government Business Leader at Arup, for a broader discussion of how devolution can improve transport connectivity, how the government can support innovation and learning, and whether there is a case for further devolution in this area.

This event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government. 

Insights from this discussion will inform a published policy briefing containing the three case studies and a synthesis of key lessons.

We would like to thank Arup for kindly supporting this event.

We are also grateful to our strategic partner L&G for its wider support of the IfG DevoLab series. 

IfG DevoLab #3: How devolution can improve transport connectivity

Scotland is just six months away from May’s crucial parliamentary election, with First Minister John Swinney preparing to lead the SNP into one of the most unpredictable campaigns since the party entered government almost 19 years ago.  

On 19 November, the Institute for Government was delighted to welcome Scotland’s First Minister to discuss his priorities ahead of the 2026 Scottish parliament election, the political context in Scotland ahead of the crucial UK budget, and the SNP’s vision for Scotland’s constitutional future.

John Swinney was in conversation with Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government, followed by a Q&A with the live and online audience. 

In conversation with John Swinney MSP, First Minister of Scotland

The government’s ‘devolution revolution’ in England will see newly-created strategic authorities given greater powers to shape local economic policy through designing and delivering strategies on skills, housing, infrastructure, and transport. This will equip mayors to drive growth, raise living standards and improve services in their areas, while mayoral-led authorities are also expected to influence national economic policy through statutory local growth plans.

So how can new authorities – some of which will work across new geographies – develop a well-evidenced and coherent economic strategies? How can places at different stages of development approach this challenge? What role can local businesses, universities, and civil society play in shaping these plans? And how can they best be engaged?

Drawing on new IfG research, supported by the University of Surrey, which uses UK and international best practice to set out the development lifecycle of a local economic strategy, this event brough together an expert panel to explore how new strategic authorities can deliver local economic growth.

Professor Lisa Collins, Pro Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation at the University of Surrey
Dr Rebecca McKee, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government
Tom Walker, Interim CEO at Greater Essex Combined County Authority
Mayor Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands
The event was chaired by Akash Paun, Programme Director at the Institute for Government. This was followed by a Q&A session and an opportunity to network over lunch with fellow attendees. 

We would like to thank the University of Surrey for kindly supporting this event.

Devolving growth: What are the challenges and opportunities for new strategic authorities?

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