Mission-led government needs a different approach. Ben Lucas and Elizabeth Hopkins look at structural and cultural changes that will be needed to deliver on the Government’s growth plans

It is only one month since Labour swept to power. In that time, the new Government has set a rapid pace of change, with a series of new announcements signalling the reforming intent of ministers. Two of the recurring themes have been Labour's five missions and the devolution of power. But how do they interconnect?

The answer is that mission-led government requires a different way of governing, working in partnership across sectors and tiers of administration to deliver long-term goals.

Core economic interventions like sector and cluster development, housing and infrastructure investment need to sit alongside public service reform plans to support more people back into work, improve healthy life expectancy and tackle child poverty

After years of stagnation and the chancellor's inheritance of a £22bn spending gap, returning the UK to economic growth is the first of these goals. Devolution is the process by which this becomes a reality for Britain's towns and cities.

The Government has made a strong start: meeting with the mayors to discuss Local Growth Plans on day five, devolution legislation in the King's Speech, inviting non-devolved areas to come up with their own plans, pledging to devolve employment support, committing to multi-year local government funding and outlining planning and housing reforms. But these early steps must be underpinned by long-term system change to shift resources, capacity and powers to Britain's regions and localities.

Metro Dynamics and the Future Governance Forum have published a new report: Impactful Devolution: A new framework for inclusive local growth and national renewal, setting out what this could look like for mayors and local leaders. Speaking at the report launch, Jim McMahon MP, the minister for devolution and local government, said the forthcoming Devolution Bill will embody the core principles for empowered devolution.

At the heart of this should be clarity about the role of devolution in driving inclusive growth, with better economic and social outcomes for local people.

Core economic interventions like sector and cluster development, housing and infrastructure investment need to sit alongside public service reform plans to support more people back into work, improve healthy life expectancy and tackle child poverty.

Some of the foundations are now in place, with mayoral and county combined authorities covering functional economic areas in a substantial part of the country, in addition to the GLA and Mayor for London.

But these foundations need to be strengthened and extended. Local leaders are all too aware of the deficit in resources they face. Over the past 14 years, the balance of employment between local and central government has shifted to the centre to the tune of around 300,000 staff. The Government's ambition for further devolution needs to be matched with rebuilding local capacity to deliver.

Government has already asked mayors in England to begin work on Local Growth Plans, and we set out in our report recommendations on how to bring together the levers of growth in place.

Delivering on Local Growth Plans needs to be backed by funding certainty and flexibility for places to invest in their industrial and spatial strategy, in housing delivery plans and in employment support and skills. Devolved areas should be given single local growth pots, consolidating all existing local economic funding, in addition to single devolved department style settlements for all mayoral areas

One of the clearest and most ambitious targets the new government has set for local and regional government is to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the first Parliament.

Delivering high quality family, affordable and social homes is central to growth and places should be supported by a repurposed Homes England to work with private sector partners and communities on multi-year delivery plans for housing.

At the heart of this must be how to support investment in the critical hard and social infrastructure. Without this, new housing will be untenable. That requires channelling greater private sector investment into our towns and cities.

The Government got off to a very fast start, but now the hard work will need to be done on the detail of how to deliver. This is a challenge and an opportunity for every level of government in the UK. Success will depend on mayors, local leaders and ministers working in partnership to develop credible and investable plans for local and national renewal.