Metro mayors in England could soon have greater spending power under plans reportedly being considered by Andy Burnham to share income tax receipts more widely.
The move would mark a major boost in the new prime minister’s devolution drive, which he has said forms a central part of his agenda in government.
The former Manchester mayor is expected to lay out how England’s 14 metro mayors will be given greater powers to control spending in their regions later this week, as part of his pledge to deliver “good growth in every postcode”.
But this policy may leave great swathes of the country behind if implemented incorrectly, experts have warned, risking the reinforcement of a “postcode lottery”.
Around half of England’s population resides outside an area with an elected metro mayor, meaning millions of people would not feel the benefit of a mayor-only approach to devolution.
Cornwall is one of the largest regions without a mayor, with residents opposing a devolution deal in 2023 as many cited concerns about the area’s identity.
But the region may have little choice but to accept a deal if not having a mayor excludes them from the income tax funding arrangements, warned Perran Moon, Labour MP for Cornwall’s Camborne and Redruth.
“There’s a building fear across the Parliamentary Labour Party that the areas that are not covered by a mayoral combined authority are going to be significantly disadvantaged,” he told The i Paper.
This is an issue that has already arisen through the local growth fund, announced in 2025 by Sir Keir Starmer’s government, which saw areas without directly elected mayors left out of the £1.5bn funding package.
It comes as a new report warns Mr Burnham to take the correct approach on devolution and tax. The authors, from King’s College London and Harvard Kennedy School, wrote: “Too much devolution just reinforces postcode lotteries and regional disparities unless significant redistribution comes with it.”
They said: “The richest regions by far are London and the South East… glibly saying ‘more devolution to the regions’ and ‘we want more fiscal autonomy’ doesn’t really work unless you’re going to have significant redistribution on top of it.”
The research, co-authored by former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls, added devolution is not a “silver bullet”, but that Mr Burnham has the “best opportunity in a generation” to get it right.
A government spokesperson told The i: “We will deliver good growth in every postcode by taking money and power away from Westminster and putting them in the hands of local leaders.
“Where areas are not ready to adopt a mayor, the government will work with them to set up non-mayoral foundation strategic authorities with more control over transport, skills and local growth.
“We are also delivering for areas without mayors, including allowing local authorities to retain more business rates locally.”
