Devolution

Devolution is a way groups of councils agree with government to take greater control over funding and powers for their area. This includes making major decisions locally that are currently made by central government.

On this page, you can find out about:

The English Devolution White Paper

The government published the English Devolution White Paper on Monday 16 December 2024.

The white paper outlines the government’s ambition for the whole of England to eventually have a devolution arrangement in place.

This includes the introduction of a new type of authority called a Strategic Authority. In Medway and Kent, the proposal is to create a Mayoral Strategic Authority, which would include an elected Mayor.

The elected Mayor would make decisions with the local authorities within the Mayoral Strategic Authority for the whole of Medway and Kent.

A structure chart showing the organisation of government proposed under the government’s English Devolution White Paper.

A structure chart showing the organisation of government proposed under the government’s English Devolution White Paper.

At the top is national government, which would be responsible for the delivery and coordination of national level services such as defense and health.

The second tier is Strategic Authorities responsible for leading on local growth and issues across individual council boundaries including infrastructure planning and transport. These would consist of a number of councils working together across a wide geographic area, and in some cases, would be led by an elected Mayor.

The third tier are Principal Authorities, which would be unitary councils responsible for local public services, place shaping and local public service reform. County, district and borough councils would come together to become unitary councils. These principal authorities would then come together to form the Strategic Authorities.

Devolution Priority Programme

The white paper invited councils across the country to apply for priority status through the Devolution Priority Programme (DPP).

Medway Council and Kent County Council have formally asked the government to be included in the DPP in a joint letter.

By taking part early, Medway and Kent could shape the process and make sure it works for residents.

Medway Council, Kent County Council and all 12 of the district and borough councils across Kent have worked closely together throughout this process.


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Benefits of devolution

The devolution proposal for Medway and Kent would lead to:

  • increased funding
  • the ability to make decisions for residents locally, rather than nationally
  • public services being tailored to local needs
  • stronger partnerships between local organisations.

The government says the new Mayoral Strategic Authorities would have powers and funding to lead on issues including:

  • transport
  • skills
  • housing
  • economic growth
  • environment and climate change
  • health
  • public safety.

Local government reorganisation

Running alongside devolution is a proposal to reorganise local government by creating more unitary authorities across England. These would sit under the new Strategic Authorities.

A unitary authority is one layer of government responsible for all services in a given area.

Medway Council is already a unitary authority. We're responsible for all services in our area including social care, waste collections, roads, parking and much more.

Across the rest of Kent, there is a 2-tier system in place. District and borough councils are responsible for some services and Kent County Council responsible for others.

It's likely that local government will be reorganised into 3 or 4 unitary councils serving the whole of Kent and Medway, each with a population size of around 500,000 residents. Medway’s current population is 280,000, so it’s likely we will be combined with a neighbouring area or areas.

What has happened so far

Medway Council and Kent County Council submitted an expression of interest to the government for exploring a possible devolution proposal in September 2024.

The government then formally published its English Devolution White Paper in December 2024.

On Friday 10 January 2025, Leader of Medway Council Councillor Vince Maple and Leader of Kent County Council Councillor Roger Gough wrote a joint letter to government to express an interest in joining the Devolution Priority Programme.

Next steps

We expect to know the government’s decision on accepting Medway and Kent onto the Devolution Priority Programme by the end of January 2025.

If the government accepts, they will consult residents across the county on creating a Mayoral Strategic Authority in Medway and Kent before the end of March 2025.

The government’s timeline currently states that full proposals for reorganisation are to be submitted in autumn 2025.

We expect that:

  • election of a Mayor and introduction of the new Strategic Authority will take place in May 2026
  • unitary councils covering Kent and Medway could be introduced in either 2027 or 2028.

Medway Council and Kent County Council will continue to work closely with Kent’s 12 district and borough councils to develop proposals for local government reorganisation and to shape the approach to devolution for Medway and Kent.

More information about devolution

Government resources:

Medway Council media releases: