Mayors and local leaders will receive £285m of Good Growth funding and will have new borrowing powers, the chancellor confirmed in his Budget speech today.
In what was his first Budget, John Healy said that local leaders ‘shouldn't have to come cap in hand to Whitehall to build a new tram or new concert hall'.
The funding comprises of £165m to support places with a mayor in place in 2027 and £120m of incubator capital funding for areas set to receive a devolution deal or strategic authority status.
The Government said the funding will give local leaders more money and more powers to revive high streets, improve transport links and build new homes where they are needed.
The chancellor also confirmed a £1.5bn borrowing facility from April 2028 for Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) and £150m to help MSAs build the expertise required to manage greater powers, fiscal devolution and Good Growth Funds.
The measures were first announced on Sunday. They form part of Prime Minister Andy Burnham's pledge to deliver ‘good growth in every postcode'.
Responding to the Budget, Cllr Eamonn O'Brien, chair of the Local Government Association, said that the Government had recognised that councils are ‘central to achieving good growth', but added that this cannot be achieved if council finances ‘remain fragile and reliant on emergency bailout agreements.'
Cllr Ruth Bennett, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, resources and transformation at Liverpool City Council said: ‘I'm really pleased to see the new borrowing powers for mayors being brought forward, and we're ready to work with Mayor Steve Rotheram to make sure we use them to deliver investment and opportunities that benefit residents right across all our communities.'
Localis chief executive Jonathan Werran welcomed the Good Growth funding and the mayoral borrowing facility, adding that the ‘Treasury's signal of "devolution by default" sets a welcome direction'.
