Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester and Warrington Councils have been given the go-ahead to progress with a devolution deal at pace.
Following the launch of the Government's English Devolution White Paper in December, the three council leaders have now been informed that the three unitary authorities have been included in the Government's 'Devolution Priority Programme'.
The Government says "The programme – one of the largest ever single packages of mayoral devolution in England - will support the areas to move towards devolution at pace, becoming mayor-led strategic authorities by May next year if they proceed."
Cllr Nick Mannion, Leader of Cheshire East Council, said, "This is a once in a generation opportunity to use our local skills and knowledge along with our wider partners to help shape investment in our people and places across Cheshire and Warrington. The goal will be for sustainable growth that benefits all our communities, with no-one left behind.
"The three Councils already work well together so it's a natural evolution to continue that partnership to a greater degree. Now we have the momentum to realise the advantages that devolution will bring - in transport, housing, skills and employment across the region."
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: "The truth is that for all the promises of levelling up, central government's first instinct is all too often to hoard power and hold our economy back. Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few.
"We promised to achieve a devolution revolution by overseeing the greatest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation, and today's announcement will help raise living standards, improve public services and build the homes we so desperately need.
"By taking a common-sense approach to reorganisation, boosted by our reforms to give mayors a suite of vital new powers, we will make sure areas can truly deliver on our Plan for Change."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
your words, not theirs, I admit,
meaning that central government yet again railroads changes in local government without our say-so on the basis of their creed.
They take us for fools and we acquiesce.
We need a proper joined-up strategy for local government, controlled by us, agreed by us, which delivers the services we need, at a fair price. But this is never going to happen in this country, because Whitehall will never cede control.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/devolution-revolution-six-areas-to-elect-mayors-for-first-time
"areas will be given sweeping new powers, putting them on the fast track to deliver growth, opportunities, transport and housing for local communities."
"The programme – one of the largest ever single packages of mayoral devolution in England - will support the areas to move towards devolution at pace, becoming mayor-led strategic authorities by May next year if they proceed."
'While devolution can be hard to understand sometimes, the aims of this programme are simple: it puts more money in people’s pockets, leads to quicker, better, cheaper transport, designed with local people in mind and puts politics back in the service of working people.'
This is in the link Lisa has above.
Would we be right in expecting a reduction in council tax rates due to the efficiency we can expect from from the amalgamation of the 3 Councils? There must be a reduction in staffing levels. How else will they put money in our pockets?
I am not convinced it will result in savings and will open the door to an increase. Could any of our council representative care to comment?