Tainting a good idea
Combined authorities in the balance It may be Budget day before we learn whether any part of central southern England will reach agreement with the government on a ‘devolution deal’. But the chaotic process of recent months may have damaged the credibility of what is, at its heart, a very good idea. In the past few weeks, the Hampshire and Isle of Combined Authority, widely regarded as the best developed and most widely supported devolution proposal, apparently stalled. Negotiations then…