The joy of the new historic 30-year £1.14bn devolution deal for large parts of the East Midlands is ‘we've had all sorts of projects that we've had lined up that we can now crack on with'.
That's the view of leader of Nottinghamshire CC and Conservative MP for Mansfield Ben Bradley, who was instrumental in getting the deal signed in principle with central government. His is one of the four councils included in the deal, along with Derbyshire, Derby, and Nottingham. A mayoral county combined authority (MCCA) will be created with new powers to improve transport and boost skills training.
The area will also appoint a directly elected mayor, with powers to drive regeneration, compulsory purchase powers, and the ability to designate mayoral development areas and set up mayoral development corporations to promote growth and build homes.
A buoyant Mr Bradley tells The MJ he hopes other areas, some with complex geographies, will be inspired by what has been achieved and will push on for their own deals. ‘I don't think people will twig for a while yet just how big a deal this is. Because it is a new kind of combined authority. It's never been done in an area like this.
‘Hopefully we can prove that concept, which is if you can devolve to somewhere where the local government structures and the differences in the geographies are so complicated like ours, then you can do it anywhere. Hopefully we can pave the way for that.'
There are risks ahead. Yes, it will be the very first MCCA, consisting only of upper-tier councils. But crucially its existence depends on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill getting Royal Assent. In reality there is no guarantee that will happen quickly.
But speaking last week before the outcome of the Conservative leadership race was known, the MP and council leader remains extremely positive: 'We've mitigated some of the financial risks as we've managed to do it this week. That's really important, because as you go into the next Spending Review, with the challenges we've got, I think belts will be tightened. So having our financial figures tied down now [is good].
‘But the legislation is still to come. That's the big hurdle we've got to overcome. Clearly things are volatile in politics, but both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have committed to delivering the bit of legislation we need in some form. Both are positive about devolution, and both will have been no doubt aware of the deal being done this week. I don't think it's likely we'll end up turning round from here.'
He's really happy with the size of the investment pot compared to the areas including Greater Manchester that the East Midlands says it is trying to catch up with. ‘I think it's worth about £10 per head for Greater Manchester, while we have £17 per head. It's massive really.'
He highlights that the deal will include ‘some capital funds to go with it, for brownfield land for example, and some in-year funding that we can spend now as well.
‘This is quite helpful in the current climate, particularly around things like energy, insulation and retrofitting. Given the energy bills situation, it's good to have that in our pocket, so that we can get on with spending that now.'
He has enjoyed working across the East Midlands to develop the deal. It's an area he's been closely connected to all his life. ‘I grew up in North Derbyshire, I went to school in Derby City, I went to university in Nottingham, and I've lived my entire adult life in North Nottinghamshire. I've covered the whole patch.'
Will be put himself forward for the job of directly elected regional mayor? ‘I've never ruled it out. The reason I think this is such an exciting prospect is because of the potential of that role and that combined authority to do some really positive things - changing the lives of people across the region, and that's exciting.'
In a Twitter post, deputy director of think tank Onward Adam Hawksbee has pointed out that there is much supportive and conciliatory language in the deal to ‘appease district and borough councils'. He emphasises the arrangements to include them as non-constituent members – with non-voting participation on boards and places on overview and scrutiny and advisory panels - are much the same as those for non-constituent members in traditional Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs).
Returning to Mr Bradley, he says: ‘We've gone out of our way as leaders to make sure we're working with the districts and boroughs as closely as we can. Firstly because those relationships are important and we'd never be able to deliver fully without people buying into it. But also because if you want to make the most of the powers in a purely practical sense for things like housing and planning, you can't do that without their consent. So we've worked really hard to include them. ‘
Getting this deal over the line is no small achievement. Large parts of the region now have a solid long-term investment pot to provide a bedrock of financial certainty over the next couple of decades.
