Local devolution

Local Devolution is our programme to give communities greater influence over the spaces and services they value most. It engages with Town and Parish Councils and local community organisations. Together we work to create opportunities for communities to take an active role in managing local assets. This can include areas such as parks, play areas and community spaces. 

This work brings operational decision‑making closer to residents. It enables priorities to be directly shaped by local needs. 

This is a key part of our broader plan to create thriving, sustainable communities. We are working to give local communities more control. We feel residents are often best placed to address local needs.   

Each council can decide if, and how, they wish to engage with the programme. The framework sets out different delivery pathways. This is so local areas can choose an approach that works best for them.  

We have developed a Local Devolution framework. This offers six distinct delivery pathways for asset and service devolution. Each offering varying levels of responsibility and control. 

These include: 

1. Influencing and monitoring - allows Town and Parish councils to shape service delivery without taking on direct responsibility
2. Joint or enhanced delivery - enables communities to fund improvements beyond baseline services, often in partnership with us
3. Agency agreements and sponsorship - provides formal arrangements for local service enhancement, including advertising and maintenance
4. Delegated authority - involves taking on full responsibility for service delivery, typically under legal agreements
5. Transfer of services or assets - includes ownership and management of specific assets, requiring robust business cases and legal compliance
6. Transfer of a group of assets - allows for bundled asset transfers to support financial viability, assessed under our Community Asset Transfer Policy. 

Each pathway is designed to empower local communities. It will also ensure alignment with council priorities and legal obligations. 

For full details, please read our Local Devolution policy framework.

To help residents, businesses, and local councils to understand more about Local Devolution, we have developed an FAQ document. 

If you have a question that has not been addressed in this document, please let us know using the contact details on this page.

Local Devolution supports the Council’s Corporate Plan 2024-28 ambition.

This involves:

• using resources wisely
• strengthen partnerships with town and parish councils
• to make North Somerset a great place to live, work and visit. 

The programme gives communities more influence over how to manage local spaces. It encourages local investment and innovation. This is to ensure our key services remain sustainable in the face of rising costs. 

We are facing significant financial pressures. Rising demand for services, increasing costs, and reduced government funding means that we must explore new ways of working. Local Devolution supports this. It will give the choice to local communities to take on greater influence or responsibility for their assets and services.

Each devolved arrangement must be financially sustainable for all involved. This may include locally funded models that use: 

• precepts
• grants
• income-generating activities or;
• volunteer support. 

These funds will help to maintain and improve assets over the long term. Clear business cases ensure that costs, liabilities, and funding arrangements are fully understood. This should be done before the transfer takes place.  

By creating a range of flexible delivery pathways, Local Devolution can build local pride by bringing decision making closer to residents. 

• Play areas – we are actively working with town councils to transfer the play areas located in their areas. Two play areas have already transferred in Yatton, and we are in talks with the remaining parishes about sites in their localities
• Allotments – sites in Clevedon and Nailsea have been transferred through a management agreement, with freehold to follow
• Garden of Rest – work is underway to transfer the management of the Nailsea Garden of Rest to the local town council, which has been a long-standing ambition
• Skatepark – Clevedon Town Council are due to take on the management of this site
• Portishead - We are currently in the progress of taking a report to Cabinet on 11 February. This is to seek support for Portishead Town Council’s request for freehold ownership of a number of assets in their town.

Contact us

Press release - North Somerset Council transfers Yatton play areas to Parish Council in first Local Devolution milestone