What is a Combined Authority?

A combined authority is an institution formed by a group of councils joining up to make policy decisions that affect all of their areas – such as transport networks or regional business policies. They were introduced under the Coalition government, and come into force when a group of councils agree a devolution deal with central government. Most of these bodies have a mayor, who is directly elected to lead the combined authority.

The role of mayors is central to the aims set out in the Devolution White Paper, and the Government is committed to expanding their coverage across England. Equally, existing mayors are gaining responsibility for an increasing breadth of public services, and increasing amounts of investment – with Integrated Settlements for the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities marking a ramping up of the spending powers of these institutions.

Across England, the creation of combined authorities – helmed by the mayor – has resulted in observable innovation. For instance, the West Midlands Combined Authority is expanding its tram network, while the Liverpool City Region is pursuing its own fleet of publicly owned trains. In the North East, the Tees Valley Combined Authority is underway with the Teesworks project, regenerating Europe’s largest brownfield site into a hub for green energy.

These large-scale, high-profile interventions make it unsurprising that recent LGIU-commissioned polling by Ipsos has shown that nearly 2 in 5 English adults believe that directly elected Mayors are a good thing, while only 17% believe them to be a bad thing. Some of the positive impacts of having a Mayor were identified as providing a regional voice in Westminster, bringing communities together, and increasing the quality of services and decision-making in local areas..

Nevertheless, the unfolding of this mayoral devolution agenda has not been without hindrance. As outlined by a recent Institute for Government report, the complex governance structures of combined authorities often demand unanimous or near-unanimous agreement among constituent councils, slowing progress in some areas. Consequently, the UK Government has proposed a move towards a simple majority voting arrangement to enable mayoral combined authorities to act more effectively as a strategic tier of governance.

With increasing power, however, comes a greater need for scrutiny. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North’s recent report recommends new Mayoral Authority Accountability Committees (‘MAACs) to improve scrutiny on local leaders and ‘expand and professionalise the current role of mayoral authorities’. Beyond setting the strategic vision for the region and acting as the public face for the combined authority, mayors also have substantial control over public money. The aforementioned IfG report therefore proposes a Devolved Public Accounts Committee, similar to the national Public Accounts Committee, to ensure that local spending is held to rigorous standards. Citizen participation in the accountability of mayors is also essential, with monthly mayoral question time proposed as a standardised practice across combined authorities that would improve quality of the scrutiny process.

As noted in a recent publication by Prof. Sarah Ayres and colleagues, there is enormous potential in directly elected mayors to deliver for the communities they lead; however, the UK Government must adequately support mayors and their authorities if we are to sufficiently harness this potential. This includes establishing the required structures for accountability and scrutiny, together with investment in capacity and enabling greater freedoms. After all, the ability of the mayoral combined authority model to deliver for the populace is determined by the policy conditions in which they operate – as is the case across all tiers of subnational governance in the UK.

2025 Mayoral Elections

This year, there were mayoral elections in only four combined authorities: the already-established mayoralties of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and the West of England, and the newly-created Hull & East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authorities. While Labour lost control of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority to the Conservatives, they held the West of England mayoralty. Hull & East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire, however, were both won by Reform UK. Compared to before the 2025 elections, when only the Tees Valley was held by a party other than the Labour Party, there is now a notably more multi-party mayoral landscape across the existing combined authorities in England. Furthermore, now that these new mayors have taken up their posts, the majority of the English population will now live under the governance of a mayoral combined authority — a notable threshold to have crossed!

The outcomes of these mayoral elections have significance beyond choosing a new leader. They serve as a public verdict on the performance of existing mayoral combined authorities and provide a mandate for any new mayors’ policy platforms. The diversification in the political leadership of England’s major regions could lead to changing policy priorities and alteration of not just the interplay within regions but also the relationship between local and central government.

Political control of combined authorities in England after the 2025 elections

Further reading

LGIU member content:

The potential of combined authorities: an agenda for ambitious councils? 

Other publications:

Centre for Cities: “Everything you need to know about metro mayors”

Accountability matters: Securing the future of devolution

House of Commons Library: Devolution to Local Government in England

How the government can support better decision making in mayoral combined authorities

How democratically elected mayors can achieve mission-oriented policies in turbulent times