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Decentralisation and central-local relations: The case of policing and mental health in EnglandOver the last decade, British governments have advocated a combined policing and health policy based on the premise that everyday more people come to police attention due to mental illness issues. Central authorities emphasise co-produced local community initiatives including street triage and clinical liaison and diversion programmes as mechanism for better managing mental health issues. The model of governance of policing and mental health developed by the Conservative governments emphasises in a decentralisation of services as a means of better managing local demands. Consequently, much of the policy burden falls upon local police forces and the austerity-afflicted NHS overstressing the front lines of delivery. We argue that this rationale challenges the traditionally established model of central-local governance which saw local authorities implementing national policy. However, whilst central government has shifted responsibility for services to local deliverers, the structural and policy barriers to an integrated approach to mental health and policing have proven difficult to change when directed from the centre of government. The executive's continuous direction of policy in a climate of austerity politics triggers not only a debate on the sustainability of local governance, but also with regard to what power of delivery local institutions have. We conclude that the nature of governmental decentralisation on cross-sectorial policymaking can jeopardised the creation of sustainable local governance practices.

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Notions of network and polycentric governance highlight the possibility of innovation and adaptability in service delivery. At the same time, it has been argued that austerity and financial restrictions create strong pressures for public sector reform as public sector organisations look to new ways to deliver services. Hence the argument from governments in advanced democracies was that austerity would drive innovation. This article argues, through an analysis of the issue of policing and mental health in the UK, that network governance and polycentrism can be a major constraint on reform when policy is delivered through multiple overlapping agencies, but with a lack of overarching authority. In the case of policing and mental health, introducing new governance arrangements is complex, much more so in a context of austerity.Resistance within organizations can oppose to novel forms of governance and the new demands created by expenditure cuts further stress service delivery.