Birmingham City Council and the Innovation Unit believe that the renewed focus on devolution represents a potentially transformative opportunity for local authorities up and down the UK.

The current debate implies that this opportunity lies in the devolution of power from central government to city regions and local authorities. While important, we believe this only represents one part of the story.

The real potential of devolution lies not just in the creation of new, more localised governance structures, but in the empowerment of citizens and service users. Only by using public investment to leverage far greater investment of time, energy, passion and skill on the part of its citizens, can the state hope to meet the triple threat of rising demand, increased expectations and falling resources.