Council Leaders seek conversation with government to unlock growth and opportunity
Council Leaders across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have written to the Government to begin a conversation about devolution and how it could benefit the area.
The Staffordshire Leaders Board - 10 council Leaders representing the county council, city council and eight district and borough councils - have set out their commitment to explore how a transfer of powers and investment from Whitehall could boost the local economy and living standards.
This could include wide-ranging new powers around issues such as economic development and skills, housing, transport, energy and the environment, regeneration and planning.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:
We already work closely with other authorities wherever possible and there is potential here to extend that cooperation in certain areas to provide better services for residents.
However, having just celebrated the borough’s 850th anniversary last year, there is no need, nor desire, to change the current system of local government.
We will strongly oppose any suggestions of council mergers or adding another level of bureaucracy via an elected mayor.”
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent’s Council Leaders have welcomed the Government’s flexibility on the governance arrangements for devolved powers, setting out that a deal with an elected mayor would not be suitable for the area.
Democratically elected representatives at county, city and district or borough level are already in place and the addition of an elected mayor is unlikely to add any additional value for local residents and communities.
Leaders have also been clear that devolution in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent should not be about local government reorganisation and that the county, city, district and borough councils should remain.
Leader of Staffordshire County Council and Chair of Staffordshire Leaders Board, Councillor Alan White, said:
Councils across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent are a united force, working together to unlock the economic potential of the area.
This is about creating more jobs and opportunities, better transport, breathing new life into our cities, towns and villages and ensuring good homes are available for people who need them.
As a Board, we’ve been working together for the benefit of our residents and businesses for years and a conversation with Government around the opportunities that devolution may bring is an extension to this commitment.”
Staffordshire’s Leaders will now need to wait for guidance on the Government’s new devolution framework to come to a decision on a preferred model of devolution.
An English Devolution Bill, which aims to give local government greater powers over local growth through a standardised devolution framework set out in law, was unveiled in the King’s Speech in July.