Devolving greater powers, including fiscal powers, to the big city regions may not be the sort of issue  to set the pulses of the electorate racing but it is one that is now very much one on the radar of  the major political parties and could well feature prominently  in next year's  General  Election manifestos.  

Ever since they were elected the present Government has toyed with concepts of localism and devolution. The coalition government has introduced Enterprise Zones, City Deals, Local Enterprise Partnerships and the Regional Growth Fund since 2010 in an effort to boost economic development in the English regions.