The mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands Combined Authority welcome major devolution plans following the Spring Budget.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the Government will ‘boost mayors’ financial autonomy’ when unveiling the ‘trailblazer deals’ in his Budget yesterday.
Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham joined 10 local council leaders to hail the city-region’s first devolution deal with the Government since 2017 as ‘the most significant yet.’
They say it further embeds the role of local decision-making through additional powers, new financial freedoms and new accountability arrangements and is ‘a vote of confidence in devolution and Greater Manchester and its ability to deliver.’
Mr Burnham said: ‘While we didn’t get everything we wanted from the deal, we will continue to engage with Government on those areas in the future.
‘For now, our focus will be on getting ready to take on the new powers and be held to account on the decisions we will be making on behalf of the people of Greater Manchester.’
The West Midlands Combined Authority has negotiated a new deal securing wide ranging new powers and a budget windfall of more than £1.5bn.
Under the Deeper Devolution Deal the authority has secured new longer-term funding agreements including 100% business rates retention for 10 years, worth £450m.
It has also been confirmed the West Midlands will, from the next spending review, have a single pot of funding negotiated with Government, giving local leaders control over spending on devolved areas.
Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA chair Andy Street said: ‘We’re deepening devolution by building on previous deals and further empowering local leadership with the financial autonomy and decision making authority that they are best placed to deploy.
‘No one in Whitehall can understand the West Midlands better than local leaders, and so there is no doubt in my mind that we should be empowered to shape our future – which is exactly what this new deal will allow us to do.’
