The Government’s intention to only devolve further wide-ranging powers to cities with elected metro mayors has been confirmed in today’s Queen’s Speech.
As widely expected, the Queen announced the Government’s devolution plan as part of its northern powerhouse agenda amid opposition to chancellor George Osborne’s controversial offer to restrict deals solely to areas that agree to directly-elected mayors.
For England, a Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill will give ‘greater local control’ of transport, housing, skills and healthcare to cities with elected metro mayors, who would undertake the functions of police and crime commissioner for their area.
A Buses Bill would provide the option for combined authority areas with directly elected mayors to be responsible for the running of their local services.
The first Conservative-only Queen’s Speech in nearly two decades also confirmed there would be legislation to progress ‘high-speed rail links’.
Elizabeth II said her government wanted to bring ‘different parts of the country together’ and said there would be measures to ‘raise the productive potential of the economy’.
In addition, there will be legislation to bring ‘wide-ranging new powers’ to Scotland and Wales, with the Government continuing to ‘work with the devolved administrations on the basis of mutual respect’ and Holyrood being made the ‘most powerful devolved Parliament in the world’.
And the Queen said there would be proposals giving English MPs more say over measures that only affect England.
