Although the Isle of Wight council have not concluded their negotiations with the Treasury over the Solent Devolution deal, it was suggested on the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme last weekend that details of the deal would be announced during George Orborne’s Budget Speech on Wednesday.
Devolution deal announcement delayed
Isle of Wight council leader, Cllr Jonathan Bacon, told OnTheWight this afternoon (Tuesday),
“Negotiations [with the Treasury] were put on hold last night.
“There will be no deal announced this week.”
Leader of Portsmouth City Council, Donna Jones, advised the devolution announcement will not take place until June.
She said,
“We were hoping for an official announcement tomorrow as part of the Chancellor’s Budget Speech, but have now been advised the announcement will be made in June after the local elections.”
Mayoral elections in May 2017
Once the Solent Devolution deal has been completed, an elected Mayor will have authority over the area.
Last month the minister had asked whether the 15 authorities would agree to an elected mayor, they voted against the idea.
Despite that, according to Donna Jones, elections will be taking place in May next year.
She said,
“The Government will require a directly-elected mayor to secure the substantial funding, and every member of the public would have a say on who that person was through a public election in May 2017.”
Who would be in the Solent Devolution deal?
Portsmouth City Council have set out who would be involved and how the Solent Devolution deal would work.
Eight councils and the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership have been working together on a devolution deal with the government. The councils are East Hampshire District Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Fareham Borough Council, Gosport Borough Council, Havant Borough Council, Isle of Wight Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council.
The combined authority, headed by a directly elected mayor, would receive additional funding to invest in economic growth and housing. It is also expected to have responsibility for strategic planning; increasing business productivity; creating better jobs and more jobs; adult education and training; a dedicated transport budget; franchised bus services; the key route network of local authority roads; and delivering homes.
The deal would also see the region take control of its own financial future by keeping all business rates generated in the area in return for stepping away from existing government funding for local councils – meaning the area would have better control of its own financial future.
The combined authority would only manage the new powers and funding granted by government, it would not take the place of any of the councils involved which would continue to operate as they currently do. Before the new authority is put in place there would be a public consultation followed by a formal vote by each council involved.
Image: frank_behrens under CC BY 2.0
