IPM Response: Rewiring the State – What it Means for Place Leadership and Management
The Institute of Place Management’s response to the Government’s Rewiring the State Cabinet Statement and its implications for place leadership, neighbourhood governance and the future of devolution in England.
The publication of the UK Government’s Cabinet Statement, Rewiring the State, marks one of the most significant developments in place-based policy in England for a generation. [1] While much of the initial commentary has focused on fiscal devolution -including proposals to give English mayors a share of income tax revenues, greater business rates retention and a new “local first” principle- the Statement sets out a much broader vision for how England is governed. It describes a fundamental rewiring of government, with place becoming the organising principle for economic growth, public service reform and democratic accountability.
The proposals are welcome. They recognise that the major drivers of growth, as well as decline and deprivation, are not confined to individual policy areas. Transport, housing, planning, skills, employment, health and public services interact within places and are experienced in town centres, district centres and neighbourhoods. Giving Strategic Authorities stronger fiscal incentives and wider powers should make it easier to join up decisions that have too often been made separately. The ambition is not simply to devolve powers but to enable places to integrate transport, housing, skills, health and other public services around local needs.
However, greater powers and funding alone will not automatically create better places. Strategic Authorities can influence the wider determinants of prosperity and wellbeing, but they cannot understand every town centre, district centre, high street or neighbourhood from a regional perspective alone. Lasting change depends on decisions being informed by local knowledge, trusted relationships and an understanding of how places function.[2]
The Government’s ambition is to deliver “growth in every postcode.” Achieving that ambition will require governance to operate effectively across multiple spatial scales. Strategic Authorities provide regional leadership and investment. Local authorities provide the democratic and organisational bridge between regional strategy and local delivery. However, it is place partnerships, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), neighbourhood boards, community organisations, businesses and civic networks that understand the distinctive opportunities and challenges of individual places and are able to translate strategic investment into meaningful local change.[3]
This is where neighbourhood governance becomes essential. Alongside the Government’s wider programme of fiscal devolution and place-first government, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act introduces provisions relating to neighbourhood governance.[4] Read together, these reforms suggest that devolution should not end with Strategic Authorities or local authorities. If growth is to be achieved “in every postcode”, governance must also operate effectively at the neighbourhood level, where communities experience public services, shape local priorities and influence the future of their places. Neighbourhood governance provides the mechanism through which regional priorities can be translated into locally owned action, investment and accountability. It also provides a practical means of integrating services around the needs of communities, ensuring that economic development, health, housing, skills and public services are shaped by the realities of place rather than organisational boundaries.
The Government’s Pride in Place programme provides an early illustration of why this matters. Across England, neighbourhood boards are bringing together residents, businesses, local authorities and community organisations to shape investment priorities and strengthen civic participation. While these arrangements are still evolving, they demonstrate how neighbourhood governance could connect strategic investment with local knowledge, relationships and community leadership. As devolution progresses, there is an opportunity to learn from these emerging approaches and ensure that neighbourhood governance becomes a more integral part of England’s place leadership landscape.
If central government is now expected to justify why powers should remain in Whitehall, Strategic Authorities and local authorities should equally consider which decisions are best taken closer to communities themselves. Devolution should not stop at the sub-regional or local authority boundary. Delivering “growth in every postcode” will depend upon connecting regional strategy with neighbourhood leadership, ensuring that investment is informed by the people, partnerships and organisations that know places best. In many respects, this represents the next stage of devolution: not simply transferring powers from Westminster to regions, but ensuring that those powers are exercised in ways that empower neighbourhoods and strengthen local democracy.
Importantly, Rewiring the State also acknowledges that successful devolution depends on capability as much as constitutional change. Alongside new fiscal freedoms and devolved powers, the Government commits to strengthening leadership, institutional capacity, evidence, data and organisational capability across Strategic Authorities and local government.[1] This reflects an important principle: successful place leadership is not created through legislation alone. Legislation can create new institutions, but it cannot create the relationships, trust, professional capability and collaborative leadership needed to improve places.
IPM’s evidence has consistently demonstrated that successful place transformation depends on collaboration across organisational boundaries, strong local place leadership and the ability to convene partners around a shared understanding of place.[5] Improving places is not simply about funding projects or creating new governance structures. It requires investment in professional capability, trusted partnerships, evidence, data and continuous learning so that places can respond effectively to changing economic, social and environmental challenges.
The Government has set out an ambitious vision for rewiring the state around places. The challenge now is implementation. The success of Rewiring the State will ultimately be judged not by the number of powers transferred, but by whether communities experience better places, stronger public services and improved quality of life.
Just as Whitehall is now expected to justify retaining powers at the centre, Strategic Authorities and local authorities should now ask themselves the same question: which decisions are best taken closer to neighbourhoods and communities?
For the Institute of Place Management, this reinforces our role in strengthening the evidence base for place leadership and management, supporting the development of effective neighbourhood governance and place partnerships, and helping national and local partners learn from programmes such as Pride in Place. By sharing evidence, developing professional capability and supporting collaboration across organisational boundaries, we can help ensure that this new phase of devolution delivers tangible improvements for town centres, high streets, neighbourhoods and local communities.
References
[1] HM Government (2026). Rewiring the State – Cabinet Statement. Published 31 July 2026. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rewiring-the-state-cabinet-statement
[2] Parker, C., Ntounis, N., Millington, S., Quin, S. and Castillo-Villar, F. (2017). Improving the vitality and viability of the UK High Street by 2020: Identifying priorities and a framework for action. Journal of Place Management and Development, 10(4), 310–348. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-03-2017-0032
[3] Institute of Place Management (2026). Written additional evidence submitted by the Institute of Place Management (IPM) to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Public Bill Committee (EDCEB52). Available at: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/63216/documents/7239
[4] UK Parliament (2026). English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, including provisions relating to neighbourhood governance.
[5] Parker, C., Barratt, J., Colledge, M., Davis, M., Graciotti, A.M., Kazakou, A.M., Millington, S., Mumford, C., Ntounis, N., Roberts, G., Sewell, M. and Steadman, C. (2025). High Streets Task Force Post-Programme: Findings. Manchester Metropolitan University. https://doi.org/10.23634/MMU.00639511
