Insight Local Government Lawyer Insight July 2017 27 The local government environment has become much more complex since the enactment of legislation permitting the establishment of new mega-corporations which span traditional local authority boundaries. The options now range from all singing and dancing ‘devo-max’ Mayoral Combined Authorities which includes the so called ‘Northern Powerhouse’, to bodies slightly further down the ‘power’ chain - known simply as Combined Authorities (which don’t have an elected mayor but do have transport powers and other functions and the ability to precept and borrow for transport purposes). Finally, there is another, as yet largely unexplored option on the statute books - namely Economic Prosperity Boards (‘EPB’s). Combined authorities with elected mayors have stolen all the limelight being the only means by which central government will consider devolving certain powers and budgets in accordance with “devolution deals”. Some regions have bowed to central government pressure to have an elected mayor as a quid pro quo to securing certain new desired powers. Others have not, but have managed to agree a broader range of functions than the original legislation envisaged (i.e. wider powers than economic development, regeneration and transport). However, there is no legislative requirement that there be a devolution agreement between central and local government before a combined authority or an EPB can be proposed by two or more local authorities in a region. A group of councils can seek to establish a combined authority or an EPB without any reference to devolution. Accordingly, such bodies can be established with a clear focus on regenerating the local economy rather than seeking to secure a wide range of other functions without first delivering anything tangible under the new arrangements. This indeed was the original idea of such bodies. This article seeks to explore the benefits of a ‘back-to- basics’ approach to the establishment of combined authorities and EPBs where it makes sense to have a single public body established for a core functional purpose. Agenda setting Combined authorities are likely to have a much wider agenda even without devolution aspirations as their responsibilities also include transport functions and potentially could be much wider now that powers for CAs have been extended to include virtually anything central government decides. The natural direction of travel is for combined authorities to claim more and more powers and to broaden out, rather than narrow down, areas of responsibility. The danger is that these new bodies become stretched in too many diverse directions trying to take on too many huge issues, failing to focus down on specific projects or programmes that might actually deliver growth, jobs and prosperity. On the other hand, a combined authority or an EPB which is set up with some clear set purpose such as delivering a major infrastructure project across boundaries in a region – would help to prove such a body could actually deliver some tangible benefits. With regard to EPBs - to date these bodies have been largely been discounted being regarded perhaps as the ‘poor relation’ of combined authorities since an EPB is simply a Combined Authority but without transport functions. However, EPBs were originally supposed to be established to focus primarily on economic development and regeneration. This concentration upon a Rob Hann looks at the advantages of the lesser-known Economic Prosperity Board model for authorities unwilling or unable to embrace large-scale devolution. Economic Prosperity Boards - the missing link?