Devolution hopes have been dashed in areas throughout the country after the Government revealed a series of powers it was not prepared to relinquish. Whitehall has consistently refused to name any no-go areas, insisting it wanted a bottom-up process that was not prescriptive. But some local negotiators have been left unhappy after wasting time developing proposals that, it has now emerged, were never going to get off the ground. The MJ is aware of at least two examples of powers that the Government has refused to negotiate on in devolution talks -the National Careers Service and the Work Programme, which are both currently the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions.
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