#12: If No One Understands Devolution, What’s The Point?

The Sussex And The City Podcast

– Episode 12:

If No One Understands Devolution, What’s The Point?

Host: Richard Freeman
Guest: Flo Powell – Co-Managing Director, Midnight Communications

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This episode is brought to you in partnership with:
Plus Accounting – Brighton & Hove’s B Corp chartered accountants, supporting Sussex’s growth sectors with tailored business advice, tax planning, R&D claims and more.
👉 plusaccounting.co.uk

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🔍 Episode summary

Richard speaks with Flo Powell, PR strategist and co-owner of Brighton-based agency Midnight Communications, about trust, language, and the colossal communications challenge facing Sussex’s devolution journey.

With 30 years of regional insight, Flo doesn’t pull punches. She shares sharp reflections on how local authorities handle public engagement, why badly written surveys aren’t just annoying – they’re dangerous – and what might happen if a mayor is introduced before people understand what one even is.

This episode unpacks why messaging matters now more than ever – and what it will take for Sussex to speak with a unified, human voice.

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🎯 Why this matters

If you want 1.7 million people to back structural change, they need to know what it means for their lives, homes and businesses. Flo argues that the devolution process risks failure if leaders don’t:

• Resist hiding behind jargon and PDF consultations

• Acknowledge the crisis of trust in local institutions

• Start talking like people, not like technocratic systems

• Invest in clarity, transparency and real engagement

• Recognise that good comms is infrastructure

“People won’t engage if they don’t know what they’re being asked. This is a once-in-a-generation moment – and the messaging is miles off.”

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🧠 Topics covered include:

• Why its easy for local government to get communication wrong