Cheshire and Cumbria get devolution nod
The areas were among six selected by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to be part of Labour’s fast-track devolution programme.
Cumbria and Cheshire and Warrington will both get combined authorities presided over by mayors by 2026 as part of the Devolution Priority Programme.
Both areas were among those to put themselves forward for devolution deals following the publication of Labour’s Devolution white paper, which set out a vision for a more decentralised nation.
A new strategic authority would not take responsibility for the two unitary authorities in Cumbria’s case and three in Cheshire and Warrington, rather it would have additional strategic responsibilities, like the combined authorities in Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region.
The ultimate prize on offer for Cumbria and Cheshire and Warrington is the kind of autonomy currently being enjoyed by Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, the most devolved areas of England, which have received trailblazer deals that come with integrated settlements.
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The other four areas selected as part of the fast-track programme alongside Cumbria and Cheshire and Warrington were Norfolk and Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex and Brighton, and Hampshire and Solent.
Proposals for combined authorities for Kent and Medway, Wiltshire and Swindon, the South Midlands, and Wessex all missed the cut.
“The truth is that for all the promises of levelling up, central government’s first instinct is all too often to hoard power and hold our economy back,” Rayner said in the House of Commons.
“Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few.
“We promised to achieve a devolution revolution by overseeing the greatest transfer of power from Westminster in a generation, and today’s announcement will help raise living standards, improve public services and build the homes we so desperately need.”
Rayner also declared Lancashire’s mayorless combined authority open for business.
Great news!
By Anonymous
And the public get no say
By Anonymous
Anonymous @ February 06, 2025 at 3:37 am
Devolution was part of the manifesto. So you had your say last July. Here we are. Don’t like it? Well, fair enough, you’re entitled not to do so. Do what you must to get it changed via the democracy we have. But you don’t get a say on every decision. If that’s how we operated, nothing would ever get done. And it’s hard enough as it is.
By Green Belt Ben
The quality of local government needs improving first before they get more powers. Cheshire East particularly.
By Anonymous
Will they have their own currency?
By Anonymous
Accelerated devolution was in Labours manifesto so the public had a say when they were elected into power last July.
By Anonymous
The public get no say on being closer to decision making – you have a problem with that anon?!
By Democracy
Very good
By Anonymous
Hopefully it improves the quality of delivery
We definitely need something to work better
By Anonymous
Who will actually get the power? Another layer of local government bureaucracy?
By Anonymous
Hands up! Who wants more politicians? Devolution has worked so well so far.
By Anonymous
Lancashire slow lane yet again
By George
Another tier of government less accountable and democratic than Local Authorities.
By Anonymous