The Local Government Association has agreed to give a “back seat” to directly lobbying for devolution after the government changed its policy priorities, with one senior Tory declaring the former devolution process "pretty well dead". The government’s scrapping of plans for a devolution white paper this year – and subsuming this work into a broader levelling up white paper – “suggests an opportunity to review the board’s work and how it might most effectively influence this new agenda”, according to a paper to yesterday's LGA people and places board meeting. LGA officers “suggest a change in approach for our lobbying work”, which would “showcase local government’s ability to deliver effectively and at pace and to make a real difference in people’s lives, building on councils’ remarkable efforts during the pandemic”, the paper said.