One of the oddest ideas in the levelling up White Paper was tucked away on page 179: ‘The UK Government will also explore devolving more transport powers and responsibilities in England. In MCA areas, the UK Government will provide new powers of direction to increase mayors’ control over Key Route Networks. The UK Government will also explore transferring control of taxi and private hire vehicle licensing to both combined authorities and upper-tier authorities. Taxis and private hire vehicles are a key part of local transport systems, so this would allow LTAs to fully integrate these modes into their Local Transport Plans.’

Giving mayors control over Key Route Networks might represent devolution but it is the antithesis of it to take functions away from unitary and district councils and give them to combined authorities or county councils. It would suck responsibility away from local areas and represent centralisation.