Strongly recommend this article on English devolution by a team including @DianeCoyle1859. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.11…
The introduction sums up the problem. 
For those at the back who think that constitutional reform is a luxury a Labour government shouldn’t bother with - note that the root problem is a constitutional problem. For the reasons set out in the paragraphs above.
Here is an incisive analysis of why the current Conservative government’s approach to English devolution since 2010 has failed: they just can’t let go.
The dangers of the “bid culture” to which the current government is so wedded. At best, local government is forced into delivering the latest whizzo idea to roost in ministers’ heads: and at worst, dancing on the edge of corruption.
Absolutely: -
What can we expect from the current government? Well, @michaelgove, in his Ditchley Park speech, identified a problem of “distant government”. So, you’d think, the Cabinet’s philosopher and radical reformer would propose serious and detailed plans for greater devolution.
🎺 🎺 🥁 🥁
... here we are:
... er ... that’s it.
The reality is that the current government’s obsession with centralising power in its own hands, and with attacking every institution that could stand in its way, preclude it from doing the most important thing that needs to be done if “levelling up” is to be achieved.
That thing is strengthening local government: giving it a secure fiscal base of its own and constitutional protection against the constant centralising instincts of Whitehall and Westminster.
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