In perspective: Setting up new Combined Authorities in England: A National Audit Office assessment

In May 2017, nine combined authorities had been created in England. Also, by May 2017, six of the combined authorities had held mayoral elections and England now has six new elected officials at what one might call regional level, elected on turnouts of between 21 and 34% of local electorates. This means that 34% of the population of England now lives in combined authority areas and 22% in combined authority areas with an elected mayor. So, the administrative map of England now looks different and the governance of England is now different. The question is how much the new authorities will matter. The second question is how well combined authorities are set up to benefit local areas. The creation of combined authorities effectively forms a statute-based vehicle to take forward devolution deals. The subsidary question relates to the future of devolution: are the combined authorities now in existence the start of a new wave? Or the high point? In this article I will set out the challenges currently facing the combined authorities and set out the financial context in which they are operating.