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PurposeTo present a paper which examine the UK's approach to devolution in respect of the English regions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper seeks to understand the policy choices facing the UK Government in redesigning governance arrangements in the English regions. This is achieved by an analysis of the evolution of regional governance arrangements in the past decade drawing on secondary and semi‐structured interviews undertaken by the author.FindingsRegional governance arrangements evolved in an ad hoc manner due to the government's focus on the establishment of elected regional assemblies. In this policy vacuum existing regional institutions succeeded in establishing effective working relationships. However, with an increasing focus on cities as the engines of regional growth and the pressures to devolve responsibilities to local government the existing institutional policy framework has increasingly been challenges.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper critically examines different policy choices for reforming regional governance.Practical implicationsDrawing on research and consultancy studies undertaken by the author for the English Regions Network, individual Regional Assemblies, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Cabinet Office and the Economic and Social Research Council, the paper explores issues of policy development and implementation at the regional level.Originality/valueThe paper presents a comprehensive overarching analysis in a complex field of territorial public policy.

This contributors provide a range of perspectives on the increasingly central issues of state reform, European integration and British regionalism in the 1990s. Using case material, the contributors examine: the effects of state reform and European integration on British regionalism and the devolution debate; and the nature of recent central responses to the re-emergence of regional and devolution issues, with a particular focus on the recent policies of the Major governments and the policies of the Opposition parties.They also present some evidence which suggests that state reform and EC/EU d

This authoritative book provides the first up-to-date and comprehensive picture of the state of regionalism in England. Policy makers, practitioners, academics, students, journalists and others who need to understand and keep up to date with the development of governance of the English regions will find this book to be an indispensable resource