Recent attempts to decentralise power from Whitehall have often ended in failure, a candid report by one of the UK's leading think-tanks has concluded.

A study by the Institute for Government (IfG), published today, warns that ‘political decentralisation is often desirable, yet rarely successful' – and urges town halls and ministers to learn lessons from botched attempts to devolve powers.

With the major political parties poised to finalise their 2015 general election manifestos, the report warns: ‘If any political party is genuinely committed to serious political decentralisation it will need to rethink – or at least radically develop – its approach.'

The IfG research is based on analysis of major UK devolution projects over the past 30 years, including elected mayors, combined authorities, City Deals and Scottish devolution.

While the report highlights some successes – such as devolution in Scotland and London - it identifies programmes to introduce police commissioners, elected mayors and regional assemblies as failures.

The research authors identify ten obstacles to successful decentralisation projects, broadly categorised under three themes: