Delivering on ‘double devolution' in a practical way is seen to be one of the current unknowns in the local government reform agenda. Local authorities are awaiting the devolution of central government powers and responsibilities to them with a degree of cynicism, and this means the complementary process of handing powers to neighbourhoods can go on the back-burner until some progress is visible.

Yet, what is at the heart of this neighbourhoodisation approach? Many in local government remember the neighbourhood-delivery experiments in Islington and Tower Hamlets LBCs in the 1980s and wonder if it is a return to this. The Local Government Act 2000 created powers for local authorities to deliver services at any level within their area, and to this were added new powers for parishes. But, in practical ways, funding and support has more frequently been put into single-issue area-based initiatives – Business Improvement Districts, Health and Education Action Zones, and the creation of Neighbourhood Development Companies.