Cheshire pursues devo deal
Convening with the minister for local government and English devolution Jim McMahon, leaders of the three Cheshire councils outlined their desire for more powers from national government.
Representatives from Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, and Warrington Council sat down with the minister on Tuesday. Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington, formerly known as the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, was also in attendance.
“The meeting with the minister was very positive, and it is clear that the government wants to consider what a co-produced devolution agreement could look like for Cheshire and Warrington,” said the leaders of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, and Warrington councils in a joint statement.
“We will now begin these discussions in more detail, with the aim of moving towards an accelerated agreement with government.”
Devolution deals in the UK have taken different forms, with Greater Manchester having one of the most robust deals granting powers over adult education, LEP, transport, urban regeneration, skills, and housing – as well as a mayor.
There are 12 devolution deals in place in the country and another seven in the works. Not all have mayors, with Lancashire, Cornwall, and Devon and Torbay all pursuing a non-mayoral model.
Since talks are in the early stages, it is unclear at this point what a Cheshire devolution deal would look like. At Place North West’s Cheshire Development Update in June, however, 54% of those attending said they were in favour of a mayoral model.
Devolution received considerable attention in the Labour manifesto ahead of the election, with a pledge to extend devolution deals to every part of England that wanted one by 2030.
The last thing Cheshire East needs is more devolved powers. To be put in special measures more like. It is a systemic failure incapable of governing. A basket case Local Authority
By Anonymous
You must be joking, given Cheshire Easts performance we don’t need another layer of world class incompetence.
By Angry of Congleton
Heck. They could even just call the thing “Cheshire”.
Will be interesting to see how they cope though. I can’t think of another area that would have such a broad spread of directly competing interests, and in turn places that need their own dedicated focus, with no single central focal point that they all align to. Half also uses one major city region as a primary economic driver, while the other half uses another, affecting infrastructure.
By John
@September 07, 2024 at 8:45 am
By John
I think further powers should be devolved to the civil parishes including the town councils of Macclesfield and Crewe. They’ve done this in Cornwall and Wiltshire and have now started this process in Somerset. Counties by their nature have different areas so tailored solutions are needed rather than winner-takes-all.
By Rye
Reply to Rye, Valuable proposal as you name case studies, Cornwall and Wiltshire, where more devolved democracy, town, parish, already works — is successful.
By Anonymous