Reading generates roughly £12 billion every year for the UK economy, anchoring high-tech enterprise and commerce across the Thames Valley. Yet while city-regions such as Greater Manchester or the West Midlands flex their political muscle with directly elected metro mayors and direct control over regional transport, housing, and skills funding, Reading remains without a unified voice in Whitehall.

Local leaders warn that this governance gap leaves the town vulnerable. As central government pushes forward with its national devolution agenda, allocating major infrastructure grants and expanded tax powers to areas led by metro mayors, non-mayoral towns like Reading risk being pushed down the queue for long-term capital investment and public transit funding.

Raising concerns about the growing divide between mayoral regions and non-mayoral authorities, Councillor Anne Thompson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Reading Borough Council, warned in September that government policy could leave places like Reading isolated. "Moving more power into local communities is something my party and I have called for for years, but these plans from Andy Burnham risk creating a left-behind Britain, whilst areas with a mayor move further and further ahead," she said.

2024. The policy document encouraged contiguous local councils to coalesce into strategic regional bodies representing populations of at least 1.5 million people.

 

Recognising the potential clout of a unified regional authority, thirteen local councils across Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Swindon initiated formal discussions. On 19 December 2025, they submitted an Expression of Interest to Whitehall proposing the creation of a Thames Valley Mayoral Strategic Authority. The initiative sought to combine the M4 and M40 economic corridors into a single strategic footprint representing 1.97 million residents and an economy with a gross value added of £97.3 billion.

Proponents estimated that a Thames Valley Mayoral Strategic Authority could unlock £18.7 billion for the local economy by 2040, while generating an additional £7 billion in annual national tax revenue. For residents in Reading, where the house price-to-earnings ratio has reached 8.9 compared to England's national average of 7.6, a strategic authority promised dedicated regional funding to expand social housing and reform local transport networks.

At the time, council leaders across the region championed the initiative. "A Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) would allow for more local decision making, with regional-level ownership of key areas such as planning, transport and economic development," said Councillor Stephen Conway, Leader of Wokingham Borough Council. Co-signing the original bid, Councillor Mary Temperton, Leader of Bracknell Forest Council and Chair of the Berkshire Prosperity Board, added: "Signing the expression of interest is an important step forward in our local devolution journey and together we hope that this will provide a compelling case to government for sustained investment in the region."

How the Deal Collapsed

Despite the high economic stakes, the ambition hit administrative friction early in 2026. Central government ministers advised regional leaders that establishing a fully operational Mayoral Strategic Authority by 2027 was overly ambitious. Instead, then-Devolution Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh steered local councils toward a phased approach.

On 20 March 2026, council leaders submitted an updated proposal agreeing to form an interim, non-mayoral Foundation Strategic Authority, setting a revised target to establish a directly elected regional mayor by 2028. To keep the process moving, each of Berkshire's six unitary councils contributed £8,000 toward ongoing devolution planning and negotiations. However, the fragile compromise quickly unravelled.

During a pivotal meeting held in Reading on 17 June 2026, the cross-county deal fell apart. Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, unexpectedly vetoed the interim Foundation Strategic Authority submission, citing deep concerns over governance structures and a lack of guaranteed long-term funding commitments from Whitehall.

The sudden veto derailed months of joint planning. On 1 July 2026, Oxford City Council publicly expressed disappointment over Oxfordshire County Council's decision to scrap the joint Thames Valley proposal. Reflecting on the lost opportunity, Councillor Bethia Thomas, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, noted: "If done correctly, devolution can provide opportunities to invest in communities, and strengthen local economies."

Berkshire Steps Up

Faced with deadlock across county borders, Berkshire's local authorities quickly moved to salvage their own devolution strategy. The six unitary councils—Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead, and West Berkshire—redirected their collective focus inward through the Berkshire Prosperity Board.

On 21 September 2026, the Berkshire Prosperity Board met to construct a pan-Berkshire strategic plan for economic growth and social housing independent of Oxfordshire. Acting Chair Councillor Dexter Smith, Leader of Slough Borough Council, alongside fellow council leaders, committed to coordinating policy across the royal county to ensure Berkshire maintains its competitive edge.

To lead this refined strategy, the Berkshire Prosperity Board appointed Saba Tahzib as Director of Devolution and Growth on 3 October 2026 on a £130,000 contract. Tahzib takes charge of negotiating local growth deals directly with central government, tasked with securing strategic infrastructure funding for Berkshire's urban hubs without relying on broader regional partnerships.

For Reading, this pivot brings both opportunity and unresolved challenges. While the Berkshire Prosperity Board offers a focused vehicle for local cooperation, Whitehall's standard devolution guidelines generally require a strategic combined authority to cover a population of at least 1.5 million—a threshold that Berkshire's six boroughs cannot meet on their own.

As central government moves toward expanding fiscal powers and single-settlement tax deals exclusively for mayoral authorities, Reading sits at a critical crossroads. Municipal leaders must now weigh whether to pursue a smaller, pan-Berkshire mayoral deal or build fresh regional alliances, ensuring that Reading's £12 billion economic engine gets the national backing it requires.

Without direct mayoral representation in Whitehall, the council faces an ongoing battle to secure major grants for public transit and housing upgrades. Whether through a future Berkshire-wide mayoral model or strategic growth deals, the coming months will determine if Reading gains the powers needed to shape its own economic future or remains on the outside looking in.