A landmark £1.14bn devolution deal for a new combined county authority (CCA) is on offer for the East Midlands, to include a new elected regional mayor.
All four city and county council leaders in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Derby, and Nottingham met with secretary of state Greg Clark in Derby today to agree to the deal in principle.
If approved locally and nationally, the deal will lead to the creation of the first-ever CCA – one of the biggest in the country. The four councils will now work on the details of the deal, with a local consultation to take place later this year.
The deal provides the region with a guaranteed income stream of £38m a year over 30 years, as well as an additional £16m for new homes on brownfield land, and control over a range of budgets including the adult education budget. It follows the signing of a 30-year £540m devolution deal at the start of this month to transfer powers to a directly elected mayor in York and North Yorkshire.
Levelling up secretary Greg Clark said: ‘Devolving powers away from Whitehall and giving local leaders the resource to determine their own destiny is at the heart of our levelling up agenda and this devolution deal does exactly that.’
Devolution spokesperson for the County Councils Network, Cllr Martin Hill said: ‘This is a significant devolution deal that has the potential to transform services and economic opportunities for hundreds of thousands of residents in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, putting powers in the hands of local leaders like those enjoyed by the neighbouring West Midlands Combined Authority.
‘This landmark deal will create the first ever CCA, a model much more suited to large geographical county areas. Councillors and officers from all councils in both counties and neighbouring cities have worked hard to make this deal a reality and continued close collaboration will be key in progressing devolution for the area.’
He added: ‘With today’s announcement swiftly following the devolution deal in North Yorkshire, it is clear good progress is now being made on the county devolution agenda. With a new Prime Minister to be announced next week, we urge the new incumbent to go further and faster than before.
‘They must ensure that the devolution measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill are passed through Parliament to get these arrangements up and running, while maintaining a cast iron commitment to the devolution framework and levelling up agenda articulated in the white paper earlier this year.’
