Six areas including two in the North West will be getting elected mayors as the Government announces the next steps in its devolution package
Cumbria and Cheshire & Warrington will join,Norfolk & Suffolk,Greater Essex,Sussex & Brighton and Hampshire & Solent to work to an ambitious devolution timetable, with full government backing, with consultations set to launch shortly.
In a further step forward for devolution being delivered at pace, today legislation comes into force to establish four new devolution institutions – as a result of devolution agreements confirmed by the Deputy Prime Minister last year.
This includes establishing two new mayoral authorities in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire, and the formation of combined county authorities in Devon and Torbay, and Lancashire.
There will be mayoral elections in the newly devolved areas next year, with mayoral elections that had been scheduled in some areas for this May postponed until the process is complete.
In a statement the three councils represented in Cheshire and Warrington said: “Today’s announcement is good news for our residents, communities and businesses.
“Cheshire and Warrington being part of the priority programme shows that government is confident in Cheshire and Warrington’s ability to seize the opportunities that a devolution agreement could bring.
“It puts us at the front of the queue for significant power and funding and we want to seize this opportunity.
“Devolution would allow us to make more decisions here in Cheshire and Warrington, rather than decisions about our region and its almost 1 million residents being made in London.”
