UK government seeks deeper regional devolution through nations council meeting

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UK government regional devolution

Highlights

The UK National Economic Council meeting in Glasgow proposes extending devolution within Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to empower cities and regions.
Prime Minister's plan includes £1 billion investment over four years in UK innovation clusters to foster world-leading industries in high-potential regions.
Devolution reforms are tied to Budget measures such as cost-of-living relief, fuel price actions, and job support, aiming to boost local economies and reindustrialisation.

Glasgow meeting sets out devolution offer

As reported by GOV.UK, Burnham is using the first National Economic Council meeting dedicated to the nations to offer closer cooperation with the devolved governments on models of regional empowerment across the United Kingdom.

He is due to tell the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales, alongside Northern Ireland representation, that devolution should not stop at the transfer of powers between parliaments and governments. Instead, he says it should go further within each nation so that cities, regions and local communities have more control over the decisions that affect growth and opportunity.

Burnham says the approach forms part of "No10 North", which he describes as an effort to rewire the state. He argues that working in partnership with devolved administrations can help remove barriers to growth and support reindustrialisation built from the grassroots up.

Investment agenda ties reform to regional growth

The meeting comes after the prime minister announced plans to invest £1 billion across the UK over the next four years in innovation clusters, targeting high-potential regions with ambitions to build world-leading industries.

It also follows this week's Budget, which the government says gives households more breathing space and businesses more investment support through measures on the cost of living, fuel prices and local jobs. Burnham is linking those economic measures with continued funding for devolved governments, positioning deeper regional devolution as part of a wider strategy to spread economic gains beyond national capitals and into local economies.

In our earlier coverage of Chancellor John Healey’s pre-Budget stance, we explained how he signaled a tighter fiscal phase while sticking to deficit-reduction plans ahead of the October 28 Budget. We also noted the slight 0.1% uptick in UK GDP for August and the government’s effort to pair fiscal discipline with targeted measures that give households and businesses some breathing space while still supporting growth.

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