Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of local authorities in England that (1) have elected mayors, and (2) do not have elected mayors.

As the Prime Minister has made clear, the Government wants to see more mayors with more powers, and has successfully concluded negotiations with West Yorkshire for a devolution deal involving electing a new mayor in May 2021. The Government intends to set out its future plans for devolution, including future governance arrangements, in a White Paper later this year and intends to work with areas at pace to deliver these plans.

It is for local areas to decide what governance arrangements would be of most benefit and value to their local communities. As set out in answer to a question (HL17399, answered on 23 July 2019) from the Noble Lord, Lord Grocott, as the effectiveness of local government is dependent on many factors, not simply the governance arrangements, the only assessment undertaken by Government of governance models has been to focus on what different models can deliver; it has concluded that only the mayoral model provides that single point of accountability necessary if significant powers and budgets are to be devolved to an area.