Sub-National Governance in England

This discussion is concerned with sub-national governance in England. It will suggest that the most striking characteristic of English sub-national governance is its fragmentary and incoherent nature, embracing regions (if they can still be said to exist), city-regions (which are subject to a number of different definitions) and local government (which itself is sub-divided from place to place into metropolitan, non-metropolitan, unitary and two-tier systems, with a range of differing political management arrangements). This pattern of sub-national provision has grown ever-more varied, subject to ad hoc initiatives, and with no overall rationale. It will be argued that - in contrast to other parts of the United Kingdom - there is currently no political incentive to address the nature of English sub-national governance. Hence there is little likelihood that the pattern of governance depicted here will change, unless new factors are brought into play. Some of these are suggested at the end of this paper.