BUDGET 2016: New devolution deals for the West of England, East Anglia and Greater Lincolnshire made it into this year’s Budget.
The deals will build on those already in place in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, Sheffield City Region, the North East and Tees Valley.
In the West of England, a devolution deal was agreed by the government, council leaders and Bristol mayor George Ferguson. The partners will receive control of a £900m investment fund over 30 years to boost economic growth. A new directly elected mayor for the city region will be appointed and act as chair of the West of England Combined Authority.
This devolution agreement builds on the City Deal agreed in 2012 and the Growth Deals agreed in July 2014 and January 2015. The city region generates £30.8bn GVA and is home to 1.1m people.
In East Anglia, as well as presiding over a £900m, 30-year investment fund, the East Anglia Combined Authority will oversee a £175m ring-fenced fund to deliver new homes in response to the housing crisis in Cambridge.
The devo deal includes 22 local authorities covering Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Norfolk and Suffolk and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership. It does not include Cambridge City Council and the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough local enterprise partnership, which are still rejecting the devolution deal on offer after Osborne’s announcement today.
The deal builds on, but is separate to, the Greater Ipswich City Deal and Greater Norwich City Deals agreed in 2013, the Greater Cambridge City Deal agreed in 2014 and the New Anglia and Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Growth Deals agreed in 2014 and 2015.
As part of the East Anglia agreement, leaders will consult with relevant local stakeholders in a process to be completed by the end of June. A business plan will then form the basis of a second devolution proposal from East Anglia in the autumn and a directly elected mayor will be in place by 2017.
In Greater Lincolnshire, the 10 Greater Lincolnshire local authorities (with the support of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP) will make up the Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority and oversee a £450m, 30-year investment fund to boost economic growth. A directly elected combined authority mayor will also be put in place.
The agreement is subject to ratification from the Greater Lincolnshire local authorities and subject to parliamentary approval. It will enable Greater Lincolnshire to accelerate the delivery of its strategic economic plan, which aims to increase the value of the Greater Lincolnshire economy by more than £8bn, delivering at least 100,000 new homes.
Dr Neil Blake, head of EMEA Research at CBRE, said: “There are new mayoral devolution deals for a number of areas, though not yet for Leeds, Southampton and Portsmouth which have yet to agree to elected mayors. There are also new deals for the shire areas that have agreed to have mayors. City deals plans announced today for Edinburgh will also put it on level pegging with Glasgow and Aberdeen.”
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