England devolution plan to restructure emergency services governance

The UK government is advancing a devolution agenda in England that includes fundamental changes to the governance of emergency services. According to the Cabinet Office statement ‘Rewiring the State’, the government aims to provide local democratic control over services such as policing, health, and education by aligning public service boundaries with strategic authority boundaries by the end of the current Parliament.

A key component of this shift involves the abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) at the end of their terms in May 2028, with their functions transferring to elected Mayors. In areas without a Mayor, these responsibilities will be managed by Police and Crime Boards composed of council leaders. The plan also includes pooling funding for preventative services and aligning regional police, fire, and integrated care boards to strategic authority boundaries.

To support this transition, experts suggest the government must also foster collaboration between strategic authorities. While the current administration has moved toward a ‘bottom-up’ model of cooperation, there are calls for increased investment in pan-regional partnerships to ensure authorities can operate at a scale sufficient to drive economic growth and compete for international investment.