The future of non-metropolitan England: the freedom to lead local places - the final report

With the country at an historic crossroads, this report sets out a course for the future of non-metropolitan England.

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Councils have provided stability and leadership at a time when the national political process has not. We have built homes, we have supported the creation of jobs, and we have looked after the most vulnerable people in our communities. We have delivered tangible results for our communities. We are ambitious to do more if given the powers and resources to do so.

This paper builds on the Commission’s interim report which we published at the LGA Annual Conference in July 2018.

As a set of policy proposals, it highlights those areas where there is the greatest opportunity for councils to lead partners and deliver growth that meets the nation’s global ambitions, while giving due respect to local places and local people.

As a piece of work that draws on an exceptional number of conversations, with those both from and representing rural and non-metropolitan England, it seeks to answer the call for prosperity in place, for growth and opportunity undiminished by the shape and timing of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, for greater certainty and local control.

More to the point, as a prospectus to Government it outlines tangible, practical proposals that have the potential to make a real difference to local communities quickly, by trusting councils to lead partners in tackling long standing structural barriers to growth in places that have been left behind by national policy.