The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill becomes an Act: what happens now?

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill received Royal Assent on 29 April to become the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. This landmark legislation marks a significant moment in the Government’s devolution agenda, with major implications for local authorities, mayoral governance and public service delivery.

Whilst the Act has received Royal Assent, the final text of the Act is still awaited and has not yet been published.

In this insight, we outline the key takeaways from the Act, what it introduces in practice and the important milestones local authorities should now be planning for.

A New Statutory Devolution Framework

The Act creates a new statutory devolution framework through the designation of Strategic Authorities, granting new powers and functions to Mayors, Combined Authorities and Combined County Authorities. This is intended to help drive growth and collaboration and support improvement across local areas.

There will be three levels of Strategic Authorities:

• Foundation Strategic Authorities: these will include non-mayoral Combined Authorities and non-mayoral Combined County Authorities and any single Local Authority designated as a Strategic Authority without a Mayor.
• Mayoral Strategic Authorities: these will include all Mayoral Combined Authorities and all Mayoral Combined County Authorities.
• Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities: these will be Mayoral Strategic Authorities which meet specified eligibility criteria. This enhanced designation will unlock further devolution power and an Integrated Settlement.

This builds on recent policy direction, formalising the role of Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) and strengthening their ability to shape local priorities. For councils, this signals a continuing shift in how responsibilities are structured and delivered, with greater emphasis on partnership working.

General Mayoral Powers

The Act extends the General Power of Competence to apply to Mayors and their authorities. This is expected to provide greater flexibility in areas such as transport, managing housing development on brownfield land, creating Local Growth Plans and enhancing public safety arrangements.

Mayors are provided with a “power to convene” local partners, supported by a duty on those partners to respond – together with a “duty to collaborate” providing a formal process by which they can enter into collaboration with one another.

Mayors will also have the ability to appoint Commissioners to support delivery of functions within the new competence framework.

Funding

The Act also broadens fiscal tools by extending mayoral precepting, so that funds can support all Combined Authority and Combined County Authority functions.

Strategic Authorities will also have a power to borrow, subject to Secretary of State consent. They will also become a levying body in respect of the charging of levies from the constituent councils.

Areas of Competence

Central to the new statutory framework is the creation of a statutory “areas of competence” framework around which powers and functions for each level of Strategic Authority will be defined.

The areas of competence will span across transport and infrastructure, skills and employment, housing and strategic planning, economic development and regeneration, the environment and climate change, health, wellbeing and public service reform, public safety, cultural and rural affairs.

Headline changes include mayoral control for Local Transport Plans and Key Route Networks, devolution of adult education and training duties and major planning, compulsory purchase powers and housing reforms. This includes powers for Mayors to intervene with planning applications that are strategically important, establish Mayoral Development Orders and Mayoral Development Corporations and charge a mayoral community infrastructure levy on developers.

Strategic Authorities will also have the functions and duties to prepare economic assessments and publish Local Growth Plans for their areas.

Consideration will also need to be given by Strategic Authorities when taking decisions about the exercise of functions to the new health improvement and health inequality duty. This will require Combined Authorities and Combined County Authorities to have regard to the need to improve the health of persons in their area and to reduce health inequalities of those living in the area.

Governance

The Act standardises governance for Strategic Authorities by enabling decision‑making by simple majority subject to any agreed local arrangements. Mayors will have casting votes in limited circumstances only where legislation expressly provides, such as the Local Transport Plans, Community Infrastructure Levy and Spatial Development Strategies, while otherwise embedding a more consistent collective decision model across areas.

Local Scrutiny Committees for mayoral authorities will be introduced to scrutinise and oversee public spending and decision making.

For more details on how the Act will change the roles of Mayors, Combined Authorities and Combined County Authorities, read our previous insight on this topic.

Other New Measures

In addition to the changes around Devolution, the Act includes a number of substantive measures that will affect local authorities and their partners. These include:

• Changes to local authority governance arrangements by requiring local authorities to move from committee systems of governance into leader and cabinet models (subject to some protections for a limited period) whilst preventing the creation of any new local authority Mayors
• The introduction of a new Community Right to Buy, which will give local people the first right of refusal for assets of community value and for the protection of sporting assets, such as shops and community centres when they are put up for sale.
• A ban on Upward Only Rent Review for business tenancies in new and renewal commercial leases, which may have implications for local authority property portfolios and commercial arrangements.
• The establishment of a Local Audit Office, which will help manage council finances and ensure auditing is carried out efficiently and transparently.
• Gambling Impact Assessments will be introduced to address the proliferation of gambling shops on the high street, so councils can prevent new gambling shops opening.

Implementation Timeline

While Royal Assent is a major milestone, the implementation of the Act will take place over several years. We will be doing a further deep dive into all of the changes brought about by the Act and the timeline for implementation.

Conclusion

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 represents a significant step forward in the Government’s devolution programme, bringing both new opportunities and new responsibilities for local authorities.

In the coming weeks and months, Combined Authorities and Combined County Authorities will need to consider the impact of the Act to their governance arrangements, funding arrangements and their constitutions with a focus on understanding how the new framework will apply locally, reviewing governance and scrutiny arrangements and preparing for the upcoming reorganisation deadlines.

Early engagement and clear planning will be key to making the most of the powers, functions and changes the Act introduces.

How Capsticks can help

To discuss anything relating to the contents of this alert or how the new Act will impact your organisation, contact our Head of Local Government Tiffany Cloynes, Legal Director Rebecca Gilbert or Principal Associate Megan Tam to find out more about how Capsticks can help.

To hear more about the Act and how it will change the role of Mayors, Combined Authorities and Combined County Authorities and their constituent councils in delivering devolution, visit us at the Capsticks Pavilion at UKREiiF for our ‘Devolution and Local Empowerment’ panel. Find out more details here.