On 26th November 2025, Steve Webb, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, ruled out the threat of a Devonwall Mayoral Strategic Authority being imposed on Cornwall. In a letter to the unitary authority, the Minister stated that the UK Government “is minded, on an exceptional basis, to work” with Cornwall Council “to explore designating the council as a Single Foundation Strategic Authority (FSA).”
The letter added that any such designation would be subject to Royal Assent of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill and referenced unlocking more “powers and functions” and “starting Cornwall on its journey to deeper and wider devolution.” At that time, there were reports that Cornwall’s MPs would be meeting with Ministers to “flesh out the details of the deal.”
I remain concerned that all these discussions about devolution are actually about local government structures, rather than the Celtic-style democratic settlement that Cornwall merits. And I find it concerning that ministers have had little to say publicly about this for the last three months.
Last week, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet voted to, in principle, accept the “offer” of a “Cornwall-only” FSA. It is noteworthy that the report presented to councillors confirmed that “FSA functions are currently limited” but that this “represents the floor, not the ceiling” of the Government’s ambition.
I have yet to be convinced that this is not “wishful thinking,” but the approach is linked to the obligation to produce Spatial Development Strategies (SDS) – as introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Councillors remain fearful that a cross-Tamar SDS could still be imposed on Cornwall and designating Cornwall Council as a FSA would be consistent with an associated request for a Cornwall-only footprint for a SDS.
The House of Lords is now commencing their “report stage” scrutiny of the English Devolution Bill and amendments have been tabled to prevent Cornwall being forced into a “combined authority” with areas to the east of the Tamar. This is, obviously, to be welcomed, but I understand that parliamentary protocol states that in order to prevent the Bill becoming a hybrid one – no, I don’t understand what that means – Cornwall cannot be mentioned by name. Instead, it is being proposed that a “local authority of a local government area” can only be included in a “combined authority” if it does not have a “specific responsibility for and stewardship of the rights of its population under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.”
Would it not be better if Cornwall just had its own bespoke Devolution Bill not linked to the present legislation?
Article published in the Cornish Guardian (25th March 2026) and West Briton (26th March 2026) newspapers