This policy briefing explores how England’s devolution reforms could work more effectively by using staff secondments as a core part of the delivery system. Drawing on lessons from Japan’s structured, legally grounded approach, it shows how predictable and reciprocal staff movement can strengthen local capability, improve coordination across government tiers, and connect national policy design with local operational realities. The briefing identifies persistent challenges, such as unclear accountability, capacity gaps and fragmented learning. It argues that well‑designed secondment frameworks can help address these by moving expertise to where it is needed and building the relationships that make collaboration work. It concludes that mobility improves multi‑level governance when it is planned, supported and evaluated as part of devolution’s operating model.
“Japan offers a valuable case study for the UK because its highly structured, legally grounded secondment system has developed alongside successive waves of decentralisation to enable coordination across national, prefectural and municipal government. Unlike the UK’s more ad hoc approach, Japan’s predictable, institution‑centred rotation of employees shows how secondments can systematically build capability, share knowledge and address resource constraints across levels of government”.
Dr Abigail Taylor, Dr Sara Kaizuka, Jeffrey Matsu and Professor Anne Green
Recommendations
- Make secondments a strategic instrument of devolution. Design frameworks to build local capability, support shared priorities, and enable effective working across tiers.
- Prioritise reciprocity and system learning. Two-way movement improves policy design and strengthens delivery by ensuring experience flows in both directions.
- Standardise where it improves fairness and effectiveness. Set clear expectations on objectives, duration, induction, handover, and evaluation to reduce inconsistency and widen access.
- Build in safeguards and sustainability. Protect local autonomy, manage impacts on individuals, and leave capability behind through knowledge capture and succession planning.
Meet the authors
Dr Abigail Taylor
Abigail is a Research Fellow at City-REDI. Abigail is a Co-Investigator on the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub, which seeks to address nationwide issues through local partnership and place. Abigail previously completed an 18-month 50% secondment to the Industrial Strategy Council. Abigail has managed research for a range of organisations, including the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Youth Futures Foundation.
Dr Sara Kaizuka
Sara is a Senior Assistant Professor at Mejiro University in Japan, where she teaches International Relations. Prior to this, Sara worked simultaneously at Musashino University, Kanagawa University, and the Institute of Geoeconomics. Sara obtained a PhD in Politics from the University of Leeds’ School of Politics and International Studies. Her current research is focused on UK regional development issues and Just Transition. She has co-authored various publications on topics including disinformation and democratic backsliding, and on teaching politics.
Jeffrey Matsu
Jeff is an applied economist who turns complex fiscal and market risks into clear, practical insight for decision-makers. He is a Fellow of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and an Associate at the City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI), University of Birmingham. For six years, he served as Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), leading practitioner-focused research on value for money, monitoring and evaluation, financial resilience, and regional growth. He previously worked as a Senior Economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and at Morgan Stanley and the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC.
Professor Anne Green
Anne is Professor of Regional Economic Development at the University of Birmingham, Co-Director of City-REDI and a Co-Investigator on the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub. Anne Green has a background of working in multi-disciplinary research centres in universities. She has substantial experience in leading and working on projects on regional economic development issues and on the geography of employment and skills. She is a mixed-methods researcher with degrees in geography and a strong record of raising funds for impactful policy-relevant applied research and stakeholder engagement.