Devolution a go in Cheshire and Warrington
Warrington Council’s cabinet cast the final vote on Monday in creating a combined authority for the county, following previous approvals by Cheshire West and Chester Council and Cheshire East Council.
It was a unanimous vote in Warrington, with the proposal to create a combined authority already having secured the endorsement of the full council in a 48-6 vote last week.
“The opportunities are vast and it’s up to us to recognise those opportunities and grasp them the best we can,” Warrington Council Leader Cllr Hans Mundry told his cabinet.
He emphasised that the deal would see £651m come to the three Cheshire councils over a period of 30 years, with £4m allotted to set up the combined authority.
Prior to the vote, he put a series of questions to the executive: “Do we want £651m extra for Cheshire Warrington over the next 30 years? Do we want more decision-making powers fetched locally down to our areas and away from Westminster? And [do we] go along with what Cheshire East and Cheshire West have already voted for?”
Cllr Maureen McLaughlin described devolution as “a huge opportunity” for Warrington, adding that it was not all about the money.
“It’s about devolving power more locally so we’re not just begging from Westminster all the time,” she said. “We can start shaping our own future and be a proper power in the field between Liverpool and Manchester. I think we’re worth that.”
Cllr Hitesh Patel added that devolution would aid in democracy in Warrington.
“Bringing these powers locally, closer to Warrington and Warrington people, allows a mayor, allows a combined authority, and allows us to be more accountable to our constituents so that when they say that is not working well in transport, education, or health in the future (when we have those devolved powers) we have more of a chance to do something and respond to those concerns,” he said.
The final vote was unanimous.
Things had not gone as smoothly at the Cheshire East and CWAC votes the weeks before.
Cheshire East councillors had voted 36-32 for devolution, with detractors stating that it would add another layer of bureaucracy and not help small towns and rural areas.
CWAC, like Warrington, required a full council vote and subsequent cabinet ruling to get the sign off for devolution. At CWAC’s full council meeting there was a mass walk out, with opposition members stating that the vote was “a bureaucratic waste of time” as devolution would pass at the cabinet meeting regardless of their views.
The motion to endorse the plan did pass the full council and the subsequent cabinet meeting.
What’s next?
Government will now weigh in on the matter, making its official orders to create the combined authority in early 2026. The first mayoral elections for Cheshire and Warrington will be held in May 2027.
I still think a combined authority of most of the Old Lancashire & Cheshire counties, plus one for Cumbria would be a far better way of doing this, and make big benefits for all the NW. not just Manchester, Liverpool, Warrington and a few pet towns or villages that get looked after better than others. Lancashire has long had terrible transport policies as we saw with the collapse of The Skelmersdale rail station project and no real strategy to improve. As do other towns. Preston, Crewe and Warrington Ststions are all poor compared to the other main city hubs like Piccadilly and Lime St.
By Anonymous
Agree with comment from anonymous at 1:10.
Going to have an area within a 10 mile radius of Wigan, in the centre of Manchester and Liverpool, with 4 different Mayoral Combined Authorities, presuming Lancashire gets on with it. Nothing very strategic about that.
By Rennalp
It holds UK back: too much local democracy and decentralized planning. A Whitehall Ministry of Local Planning would be most efficient solution. Also to many small and mid-size businesses all competing for limited resources and with multiple-duplicated managements and administrations. One national Capital Business Corporation would also be much more efficient. The obvious solution; a no-brainer.
By Sir Humphrey
Typically says it all regarding cheshire east saying that it wouldn’t help small towns and rural areas,what has cheshire east done for the likes of Middlewich over the years,about as much as when Congleton run it nearly nothing enough said roll on Warrington even if only 5%better it’s worth it
By Anonymous
Why does it have to be Warrington in charge over Cheshire?
By Anonymous
Would it not be just more efficient to better resource cash strapped Councils than create another tier of governance that is being imposed by Government? Hardly democratic is it?
By Anonymous
As a warrington resident I didn’t ask for this or wany why didn’t you put it to the people YOU represent first and see if this is what we wanted for OUR councils
By Kady york
Devolution for Cheshire was inevitable given that these authorities would probably baulk even more if they were to be split between Manchester and Liverpool as per the original 1960s Radcliffe-Moor proposals that first created Merseyside and Greater Manchester. This set the framework that ultimately became Liverpool City Region and GM, but they originally would have swallowed up most of Cheshire between them except Crewe which would have joined up with Stoke.
By Paul Blackburne
There’s some low hanging fruit to chop in Cheshire, the rail service and bus network is lamentable. Someone needs to touch the 3rd rail of the way greenbelt pushes housing development further away from LCR and GM into more car dependent locations (where people then commute back into both cities) when we literally have two rails lines that run through right through it.
By Rich X