Local government in England broadly consists of three layers: civil parishes, local authorities, and regional authorities. Every part of England is governed by at least one local authority, but parish councils and regional authorities do not exist everywhere. In addition, there are 31 police and crime commissioners, four police, fire and crime commissioners, and ten national park authorities with local government responsibilities. Local government is not standardised across the country, with the last comprehensive reform taking place in 1974.
Local authority areas in England typically have an executive leader and a cabinet selected from the local council, similar to how the national prime minister and cabinet are selected from Parliament. In contrast, residents of some areas, or groups of areas known as combined authorities or combined county authorities, directly elect the executive mayors of their local government.
A combined authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs are created voluntarily and allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain devolved functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area. In areas where local government is two-tier, both must participate in the combined authority.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members: 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one of the ten metropolitan boroughs that comprise Greater Manchester, together with the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester. The authority derives most of its powers from the Local Government Act 2000 and Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, and replaced a range of single-purpose joint boards and quangos to provide a formal administrative authority for Greater Manchester for the first time since the abolition of Greater Manchester County Council in 1986.
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.
The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is the combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration. It covers a total area of 3,484 km2 (1,345 sq mi) with a population of 1.8 million. The four metropolitan boroughs of South Yorkshire – Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley – are full members of the authority, while the Derbyshire Dales, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield and Bolsover districts of Derbyshire, and the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, are non-constituent members.
The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows for the introduction of directly elected mayors to combined authorities in England and Wales and the devolution of housing, transport, planning and policing powers to them. The bill was introduced to the House of Lords by Baroness Williams of Trafford, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 28 May 2015.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is the combined authority for the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom. It was established by statutory instrument under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. It is a strategic authority with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration. The authority formally came into being on 17 June 2016.
The Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, is the directly elected mayor of the Liverpool City Region, who is responsible for regional governance over a number of issues, the Mayor has powers devolved to them from the Central Government, as well as this the mayor chairs the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
The North of Tyne Combined Authority was a mayoral combined authority which consisted of the local authorities of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, and Northumberland, all in North East England. The authority came into being on 2 November 2018 under the statutory name Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland Combined Authority. The three local authorities previously formed part of the North East Combined Authority, which continued to exist covering a smaller area. The two combined authorities cooperated on the North East Joint Transport Committee.
The Mayor of West Yorkshire is a directly elected mayor responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire in England. The Mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and assumes the office and powers of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner.
The inaugural West Yorkshire mayoral election was held on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect the Mayor of West Yorkshire. It took place simultaneously on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom, including council elections in each of the five metropolitan boroughs of West Yorkshire.
Northern England devolution is the broad term used to describe the wish for devolved governmental powers that would give more autonomy to the Northern Counties.
The 2022 South Yorkshire mayoral election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect the Mayor of South Yorkshire, the leader of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. It took place alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom. The Labour and Co-operative Party candidate, Oliver Coppard, won the election in the second round with 71.4% of the vote.
The North East Combined Authority (NECA) is a combined authority in North East England. It has a directly-elected Mayor and seven member councils: two are unitary authorities and five are metropolitan borough councils. The combined authority's area and the separate Tees Valley devolved region occupy the wider statistical region of North East England.
The 2024 West Midlands mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of the West Midlands. The election took place on the same day as other local elections across England and Wales. Richard Parker of the Labour Party won the election, narrowly defeating incumbent Conservative mayor Andy Street, who was running for a third term.
The 2024 York and North Yorkshire mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the first mayor of York and North Yorkshire. It took place simultaneously with local elections across England and Wales and was won by the Labour candidate David Skaith.
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (Y&NYCA) is the combined authority for York and North Yorkshire in England.
The 2024 West Yorkshire mayoral election was held on 2 May 2024 to elect the mayor of West Yorkshire alongside the 2024 United Kingdom local elections. Tracy Brabin of the Labour Party won with 275,430 votes.
The Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) is the proposed combined county authority for the county of Lincolnshire, for the local authority areas of Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber regions of England. The first election for the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, who will chair GLCCA, is expected to take place in May 2025.
