Compass, the centre-left pressure group, is today publishing a new report on the Labour Government’s English Devolution Bill. From Whitehall to Townhall: What the English Devolution Bill Needs is written by John Denham, former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Dr Jessica Garland, Director of Policy and Research at the Electoral Reform Society and Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies.

Their verdict? Reintroducing the supplementary voting system for mayors which the Tories scrapped and establishing a community right to buy mark a good start. But as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver radical decentralisation of power in England, this Bill doesn’t finish the job.

Electing mayors by a fairer system is welcome, but council elections overall are still done by first past the post. A community right to buy local assets is positive, but there ae no provisions for powers to raise and retain revenue across regional and local governments via tourist taxes or green tax incentives.

The Bill’s key tenet has been to create new ‘Strategic Authorities’ in areas of 500,000 people or so, with limited powers under an elected mayor. But this is futile if real power isn’t given to these authorities. Restructuring alone will not address the systemic democratic and financial challenges facing local government. John Denham notes: “The Government’s current vision will still leave England’s localities with far less control over the resources they raise and spend than in almost every other European nation.”

Additionally, in many parts of England, smaller district councils and unitary councils are being required to merge into much larger authorities. There is a danger than local needs may be overlooked in this streamlining process. A fairer voting system needs to be combined with initiatives like citizens’ assemblies to counteract this.

The key to many authorities being able to do more is fiscal devolution, the transfer of tax and spending powers from central government to devolved administrations. Yet the White Paper that preceded the Government’s Bill barely mentioned this – and, to be frank, this Compass report doesn’t go into much detail either.

We’ve come a long way from the pre-Thatcher days when local authorities could set their own business rates and had real spending power. In those years councils’ autonomy has been increasingly curtailed. In the post-2010 era of savage spending cuts, many local authorities were reduced to crisis management, greatly restricting the political choice available at local elections and consequently making councils less receptive to public pressure. While authorities like Preston show what can be done in these straitened circumstances, much greater financial autonomy remains the key to restoring local power and healthy local democracy.

From Whitehall to Townhall: What the English Devolution Bill Needs is available here.