The Department of Communities and Local Government's (DCLG) permanent secretary has told council chief executives to present Whitehall with devolution offers it cannot refuse.

Speaking at the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives Summit today, an upbeat Melanie Dawes said: ‘This is about you telling us what you want. The opportunity really is there to say what you think you want. Things have been given that weren't thought of by central government before.