Andy Burnham calls for more regional powers in Scotland

This piece begins with an important media-literacy note. The original text is a GOV.UK press release published on 15 October 2026, which means it is the UK Government making its case, not an independent report. In it, Prime Minister Andy Burnham invites First Minister John Swinney to work with Westminster on sending more decision-making beyond both London and Edinburgh and into Scotland’s regions and cities. (gov.uk) If you are wondering why that matters, the short answer is this: the argument is no longer only about power moving from Westminster to Holyrood. Burnham is saying the next argument should be about whether Holyrood should pass more of that power down again to councils, regions and local communities. (gov.uk)

To follow that argument, we need one quick refresher on devolution. The Scottish Parliament was created by the Scotland Act 1998 and first met in 1999. Scotland now works under a reserved-powers model: Holyrood can make laws in devolved areas, while matters listed as reserved stay with Westminster. (parliament.scot) The Scottish Parliament controls big day-to-day areas such as health, education, housing, planning, justice, local government and parts of transport and taxation. Westminster keeps control of subjects including defence, immigration, foreign affairs, employment law, most welfare, most energy policy and trade. (parliament.scot)

That is where Burnham’s offer sits. According to the GOV.UK press release, he wants the Scottish Government to work with the UK Government, the Scotland Office and No10 North on a fresh model of regional empowerment for Scotland. No10 North is the Government’s Manchester-based office for its devolution and growth agenda, opened in July 2026. (gov.uk) **What this means:** this is not a row about whether Scotland has devolution at all. It is a row, or perhaps an invitation, about where power should rest inside devolved Scotland once it has already left Westminster. (gov.uk)

Burnham’s criticism is that Holyrood is still too centralised. That is a political claim, so it should be read as argument rather than settled fact. But the wider question is real: Scotland already has 32 councils, and local government is itself a devolved matter, so Holyrood has a major say over how much room local authorities and communities get to make their own decisions. (gov.uk) It is also worth noting that the Scottish Government and COSLA are already working on this issue through the Local Governance Review. Their March 2026 route map says communities should have greater control and influence over decisions that affect them, and it repeats a commitment to move decision-making closer to where people live. (gov.scot)

So what might ‘regional empowerment’ actually look like? The press release does not set out a bill or a final list of powers, so here we are making a careful inference from the areas already discussed in official documents. It could mean more decisions at city-region, council or community level over economic development, regeneration, local transport, planning, skills and other growth policies that are already devolved in some form. (gov.uk) The Scottish Government’s own joint statement on local governance says some decisions are best made by communities, while others are better taken at regional level through collaboration, especially where inclusive economic growth is the goal. That makes Burnham’s proposal sound less like a brand-new constitutional invention and more like an attempt to push an existing debate faster and further. (gov.scot)

There are limits, though, and they matter. Even if Holyrood handed more responsibilities to regions or councils, the UK Parliament would still remain sovereign under the devolution settlement, and the big reserved areas would still sit at Westminster unless the law changed. In plain terms, more regional power inside Scotland would not be the same thing as independence, and it would not give councils control over everything people may assume is ‘Scottish’. (parliament.scot) **What this means for you:** if a place gets more say over buses, skills, planning or local investment, that can change everyday life. But if the debate turns to immigration, defence, most employment law or most benefits, those decisions are still mainly made at UK level. (parliament.scot)

The money question sits underneath all of this. Local power only feels real when it comes with budgets, staff and legal authority. Scottish Government figures say councils are mainly funded through Scottish Government grant, service income, non-domestic rates and council tax, which is why any promise of empowerment will be judged not only by speeches but by whether funding rules change as well. (gov.scot) For now, the offer is exactly that: an offer. Burnham has put down a public marker and invited John Swinney’s government to work with him. The next thing to watch is whether this becomes a concrete plan with a timetable, powers and money attached, or stays as a strong-sounding press release about devolution’s unfinished business. (gov.uk)