Leicestershire County Council has criticised the East Midlands devolution deal for not including large parts of the East Midlands.
A landmark £1.14bn devolution deal for a new combined county authority (CCA) in the East Midlands was agreed last month. The CCA will cover Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Derby, and Nottingham – also known as the D2N2 area.
Billed as a deal for the East Midlands, Leicestershire County Council argues that it is anything but.
A spokesperson for the local authority said the deal cannot be compared to the West Midlands and would ‘penalise’ Leicestershire.
‘The county council’s view is that a much better option for the East Midlands than a deal for the D2N2 area is a level 3 deal for what is known as the 6Cs, the Cities and Counties of D2N2 plus Leicester and Leicestershire. The county council believes it is open to the Government to put that option forward for consultation,’ they said.
‘The people and businesses of Leicestershire stand to be penalised if the D2N2 area is awarded additional funding and responsibilities, an outcome which cannot be justified. It is also simply wrong to portray the D2N2 deal as a deal for the East Midlands, of which D2N2 is only a part. It certainly isn’t a deal to match the West Midlands.’
For more on the East Midlands devolution deal see The MJ’s (£) interview with Nottinghamshire County Council leader Ben Bradley.
