Report

Go big or go home: governing England’s polycentric regions

This report from UK think tank Re:State sets out a radical but practical plan to introduce a new tier of regional government: provinces.

England’s devolution project is expanding fast, but its next phase risks failing vast areas of the country. New Strategic Authorities are being rolled out nationwide, aimed at boosting local growth and reforming public services. But in many rural and less population-dense regions, these subregional bodies are simply too small and fragmented to succeed.

Even with current reforms, some of the new Strategic Authorities promised by Government will cover fewer than half a million people: smaller than a single London borough. These bodies will struggle to fulfil a genuinely strategic role. The future of English devolution depends on recognising that different places need different solutions. Without bolder change, this revolution will stall in exactly the places that need it most.

In Go big or go home, Re:State sets out a radical but practical plan to introduce a new tier of regional government: Provinces. Led by directly elected Governors, and covering geographies of at least 3 million people, these Provinces would have the size, coherence and authority to take on real strategic leadership.

Go big or go home offers a phased roadmap for building these new institutions, alongside proposals for a new Provincial Development Fund and a governance model that works for polycentric economies.