Agenda item

Philip Clifford, Senior Adviser, introduced the item and advised the board on activity that had taken place since the last board meeting. The discussion paper ‘What Next for Devolution?’ had been launched at the LGA Conference in July, a guide to setting up a Combined Authority had been prepared by Shared Intelligence and an international comparison of sub-national governance arrangements produced by Professor Robin Hambleton. The board’s policy officers have supported the finance team with work on business rates reform, ensuring that there was a voice for City Regions in the negotiations on this. Officers had also recently attended a series of DCLG workshops on devolution.

The next key piece of work would be the autumn statement and officers would be working to press the case for devolution to government, encouraging national government to stay the course and look to go beyond the existing devolution deal process. The chief executives of the established combined authorities would also be assembled as a separate group as part of the improvement support offer.

In the discussion which followed, members made the following points:

·         Members asked how the public fitted into the debate. Members were advised that points 10.1 and 10.3 in the paper explained the communities and devolution event taking place in October and the campaign film due to be launched the same month.

·         There had been a consultation on West Midlands Combined Authority which around 2,200 people had responded to. Members expressed concern that the majority of the public were not aware of devolution or had no interest in it. However, it was pointed out that the public were aware and involved with plans for devolution in the Tees Valley area.

·         Members suggested that it would be beneficial to work with the Department of Education and secure devolution on areas such as the plans for academies and area reviews.

·         Members felt that the government needed to put forward a more objective set of proposals that local authorities could work with and provide clarity on mayors and business rates (as this was an area closely related to devolution). It was acknowledged that the LGA commissioned study of international models of sub-national governance offered a range of alternatives for consideration.

Decision:

1.    Members noted the update.

Action:

1.    Officers to take forward work as directed by members.