Hucknall MP hails Nottinghamshire devolution plans as 'huge opportunity'

As reported in the Dispatch online, Government bosses have approved plans for a new mayoral combined authority serving Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Derby.

Powers and budgets will be devolved from central Government to the new authority, which will be led by a directly-elected mayor – with an investment fund of more than £1 billion over the next 30 years designed ‘to help boost employment, families, and schools in the area’.

Levelling Up Secretary Greg Clark will sign the deal, pledging a new £38 million per year investment fund over three decades.

Posting on his Facebook page, Mr Spencer said: This is a huge opportunity for Sherwood (his constituency of which Hucknall is a part) and all of the East Midlands to bounce forward with massive Government investment in our area.

"Looking at how this model works in the West Midlands and places like Manchester it is clear we can use this to the advantage of local residents.”

Mr Spencer’s confidence was shared by Scott Knowles, chief executive of the leading business body, the East Midlands Chamber.

He said: “Our region is home to a wide range of fantastic businesses, from large industrial powerhouses to innovative university spin-outs, and everything in between.

“What they now need is the political apparatus that removes obstacles to decision-making, enhances our ability to attract investment and ultimately creates a more business friendly environment.

“The announcement of a devolution deal for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire provides a huge opportunity in this respect.

"It will help these counties to take strides forward in productivity and innovation, enabling firms to drive the economic growth that creates jobs and wealth locally.

“This is an exciting time for our region and we look forward to hearing more about how our local political system evolves to not only close the present funding gaps and imbalances, but drives the growth that allow all those who live, work and play in the East Midlands to prosper.”

Coun Martin Hill, devolution spokesperson for the County Councils Network, also praised the deal.

He said: “This is a significant devolution deal that has the potential to transform services and economic opportunities for hundreds of thousands of residents in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, putting powers in the hands of local leaders like those enjoyed by the neighbouring West Midlands Combined Authority.

“This landmark deal will create the first ever combined county authority, a model much more suited to large geographical county areas.

“It is clear good progress is now being made on the county devolution agenda.

"With a new Prime Minister to be announced next week, we urge the new incumbent to go further and faster than before

"They must ensure that the devolution measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill are passed through Parliament to get these arrangements up and running, while maintaining a cast-iron commitment to the devolution framework and levelling up agenda articulated in the white paper earlier this year.”

However, the deal has been criticised by the Unison union, who called it ‘the crumbs off a rich man’s table’.

Unison says the deal effectively works out £516 per head for the 2.207 million residents living within in the combined authority area.

It added that the figure is ‘significantly less than York and North Yorkshire's £660 each, Tees Valley’s £675, the £731 per person for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the £815 each given to the West of England when it was founded in 2017’.

Unison also said the East Midlands ‘consistently lags behind on per-head spending from Whitehall’ and this deal ‘merely enforces the status quo rather than correct a historic imbalance’.

Chris Jenkinson, Unison East Midlands regional secretary, said: “This deal amounts to crumbs off a rich man’s table.

“When you compare it to other areas of the country our local leaders have accepted a lot less than others to get this deal across the line.

“After over a decade of austerity, working people in the East Midlands want to see money being spent on rebuilding crumbling infrastructure and improving inadequate transport links.

“The residents of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire want action not political bureaucracy.”

Coun Kate Foale, Labour leader at Nottinghamshire County Council, also gave the deal a cool response.

She said: "I have mixed feelings about this deal."

"It is clearly welcome news to have more powers and funding devolved away from Westminster and the work of councillors, council officers and stakeholders should be recognised.

"But when you look at the detail of the deal, specifically the money offered, and compare it on a per-person basis with other deals around the country, it looks like we have been short-changed by Government yet again as £38 million over 30 years amounts to around £17.27 per person per year across D2N2”.

"It's clear in several key areas that the East Midlands as a region has sadly been at the back of the queue when it comes to funding the basics of public services and infrastructure for decades now.

"We haven't received anywhere near the levels of funding needed to truly 'level up' across the two counties and cities."

“If the Government trusted local councils previously to make these decisions about the communities we know so well and gave us the funding needed to provide the investment in infrastructure and services our residents need and deserve, we would not have been ‘levelled down’ for so many years."

"Until Westminster is willing to invest in the region in the per-head funding terms needed to truly ‘level up’, we will continue to be playing ‘catch-up’ to areas like London and other better-funded devolved areas."