Could English Devolution Create a Two-Tier England?

Direct answer: Yes, it could. England’s new devolution system does not initially give every part of England the same powers, funding arrangements or fiscal opportunities. The Government has created different levels of Strategic Authority, with the greatest powers and funding flexibility available to Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities. However, the Government’s stated ambition is for areas ultimately to progress towards mayoral and Established Mayoral status, and it has introduced funding measures intended to help newer authorities develop their capacity.

Will every region of England have the same devolved powers?

No. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 establishes three levels of Strategic Authority:

Foundation Strategic Authorities – the most limited level of devolution.
Mayoral Strategic Authorities – areas with an elected mayor and greater devolved powers.
Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities – the highest level, with the broadest range of devolved powers and funding arrangements.

The Government’s own guidance confirms that Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities have access to the broadest range of devolved powers and can formally request further powers from central government.

Source: UK Government – English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act guidance

Could this create a two-tier England?

Potentially. Areas which have had mayoral institutions for longer can reach the Established Mayoral tier and obtain powers and funding flexibility that newer or non-mayoral areas do not initially possess.

The Government’s funding arrangements illustrate the difference particularly clearly.

Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities can receive Integrated Settlements, combining funding from multiple government departments into a more flexible settlement controlled at regional level.

The Government has allocated at least £13 billion through Integrated Settlements between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to seven authorities: Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, the North East, South Yorkshire and Greater London.

Those areas represent nearly 40% of England’s population.

Source: UK Government – Mayoral Strategic Authority funding 2026-27

Could fiscal devolution increase regional differences?

This could become one of the most important questions surrounding English devolution.

The Government has been examining further fiscal devolution, including allowing a fixed share of existing tax revenues to flow directly to mayors.

But the economies and tax bases of England’s regions are not equal.

The House of Commons Library has highlighted that allocating the same proportion of income-tax receipts to different mayoral areas would generate substantially different amounts of money because regional incomes and economies differ.

Consequently, giving two regions the same fiscal power would not necessarily give them the same financial resources.

The Commons Library therefore identifies an important policy question: whether central government would need to provide additional grants to equalise resources between areas.

Source: House of Commons Library – Fiscal devolution and mayoral taxation

Could richer regions therefore benefit more?

Potentially, depending on how future fiscal devolution is designed.

A Strategic Authority covering an area with higher incomes, stronger business activity or a larger tax base could generate more revenue from a locally retained share of taxation than an authority covering a weaker economy.

This creates an important distinction:

Equal powers do not necessarily produce equal resources.

If fiscal devolution increases without an accompanying equalisation mechanism, differences in regional economic strength could potentially translate into differences in the resources available to regional government.

Do newer Strategic Authorities face another disadvantage?

There is also an institutional difference.

Authorities such as Greater Manchester have spent years developing staff, expertise, investment programmes and relationships with Whitehall.

New Strategic Authorities must build comparable institutional capacity while simultaneously taking responsibility for new functions.

The Government recognises this problem.

Its 2026-27 funding system provides newer Mayoral Strategic Authorities with additional capacity funding during their first five years. For the current Spending Review period, eligible newer authorities receive an uplift equivalent to 25% of the baseline allocation.

This is evidence that the Government recognises the additional challenges facing newly established authorities.

Is the Government trying to remove these differences?

Yes. The different levels should not necessarily be interpreted as creating permanent categories of first- and second-tier regions.

Strategic Authorities can progress through the system:

Foundation → Mayoral → Established Mayoral

The Government says its ambition is ultimately for all parts of England to have a Mayoral and eventually Established Mayoral Strategic Authority.

The statutory Devolution Framework is also intended to replace the previous system of individually negotiated devolution deals with a more consistent national framework.

Source: UK Government – English Devolution White Paper

So could English devolution create a two-tier England?

It is too early to conclude that it will, but the structure permits significant differences between English regions during the transition.

Those differences can arise from four separate factors:

different levels of devolved powers;
different access to flexible Integrated Settlements;
different levels of institutional experience and capacity; and
very different regional economies and tax bases.

The eventual outcome will therefore depend not simply on whether powers are devolved, but on how funding is equalised, how quickly areas progress through the Strategic Authority system and how future fiscal devolution is designed.

A wider question about the future governance of England

There is also a broader constitutional issue.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have national devolved institutions. England’s new model instead distributes powers among multiple Strategic Authorities within England.

England could therefore eventually have comprehensive devolution without every English region necessarily possessing identical powers or financial resources at the same point in time.

This raises an important question:

If powers are being devolved throughout England, what mechanisms will ensure that where somebody lives in England does not determine the quality or extent of the devolved government available to them?

That question is likely to become increasingly important as the Strategic Authority system develops and greater fiscal powers are considered.

Sources and further reading

Updated: 29 September 2026.