Veteran MP and former Chair of the Levelling Up Select Committee, Clive Betts, was interviewed last week by the Centre for Cities thinktank for a public webinar. The Sussex And The City team listened in.
He offered a sharp and candid assessment of England’s devolution journey in a wide-ranging discussion just days before the June 2025 Spending Review.
His message: devolution has come a long way - but risks stalling if the government fails to fix local authority finance and move beyond symbolic gestures.
The devolution scorecard: a mixed bag
Betts acknowledged real progress over the past 15 years - from Greg Clark’s early efforts to establish combined authorities, to more recent moves to give places like Greater Manchester and the West Midlands greater control over budgets, transport and housing strategy.
But he warned that too many new deals are being drawn around “historic county lines rather than meaningful economic geographies”, and that newer combined authorities are often “playing catch-up” on capacity and clarity of purpose.
Sussex’s proposed arrangement - combining East Sussex, West Sussex, and Brighton & Hove with just two representatives each - might be somewhere Betts had in mind. It’s tidy on paper but doesn’t reflect natural travel-to-work areas or shared economic identity.
Brighton has more in common with Lewes than Littlehampton. Crawley’s economy faces different pressures to Hastings’. A Sussex-wide Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) might be administratively convenient, but it could struggle to deliver truly place-based strategy unless there is big imagination.
Mayors: important voices, but still finding their feet
Mayors, he said, are now better able to influence national debate and coordinate across boundaries - citing joint action by the Liverpool and Manchester mayors - but they are still working out how to exert real power and are often hamstrung by Whitehall’s reluctance to let go.
Crucially, Betts argues, government listens to them now in ways it simply didn’t a decade ago. But that doesn’t mean it always hears them.
Local government: broken, burdened, and stripped to the core?
Betts was most scathing on the state of local government itself. Years of austerity have “hollowed out” councils’ policy and delivery functions, leaving them with no choice but to strip back non-statutory services while firefighting rising demand in adult social care, SEND and homelessness.
“The very foundations of local democracy have been weakened,” he said, “because people are paying more and getting less - and they don’t see where the money’s going.”
This poses a major challenge for Sussex, where many district councils and services are already stretched. A successful MCA will need planning, transport, skills and housing experts - but these don't appear overnight. Sussex will have to build capability quickly or risk its new mayor being a figurehead without firepower.
Fiscal devolution: stuck in neutral
The conversation returned repeatedly to tax and funding. Betts noted the absurdity of government allocations being based on 20-year-old data - while council tax bands are still based on 1991 property values. But successive governments fear the political fallout of reform.
Local leaders across Sussex have been calling for more control over taxes - from tourism levies to business rate retention. Betts’ assessment? Don’t hold your breath. Council tax remains regressive and unreformed, and the Treasury remains allergic to any talk of real fiscal devolution. Without a shift here, Sussex’s new mayor could still be largely reliant on Whitehall grants - with limited tools to raise or shape their own budget.
England remains one of the most centralised countries in Europe. And while integrated funding settlements and multi-year budgets are welcome, they are not enough to unleash serious change.
People don’t understand the inner workings of council finance or statutory obligations - they just see higher council tax, fewer bin collections, and services in decline. If Sussex’s new mayor doesn’t have the tools - or funding - to deliver visible impact, the whole devolution project risks being seen as expensive window-dressing.
The hope: clarity, capacity and courage
But, these are worst case scenarios.
Looking ahead to the Spending Review, Betts called for:
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A renewed investment in local government capability, especially on transport and housing strategy.
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Real oversight for combined authorities on health, skills and welfare - not just tokenistic seats at the table.
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Clear expectations and support to deliver on jobs, housing and carbon reduction - without overwhelming already thin resources.
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And most of all, a long-term, cross-party approach to tax and funding reform.
Sussex is crying out for better public transport integration - especially east-west links and intra-county bus connectivity. Betts pointed to the franchising powers now being rolled out in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire as one of devolution’s few tangible early wins.
If Sussex’s MCA gets real transport powers and decent funding, this could be an early area to deliver visible, popular change.
You can watch the full interview with Clive Betts MP here.
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