The Chancellor confirmed last week that a deal had been agreed for Greater Lincolnshire, with a collaborative agreement in place stretching from the Humber to the Wash.

It’s already been greeted with accusations of bribery and blackmail from Caistor and Market Rasen MP Sir Edward Leigh.

But the Government was keen to push its credentials this week, with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) more than obliging when the Grimsby Telegraph asked for a chat on the topic.

Getting hold of press officers, never mind a Secretary of State, can be a problem normally, but not so when it came to the big D-word.

And I didn’t even have to call the Communities Secretary – he called me, from his mobile and everything.

Secretary Greg Clark stressed that there were “no downsides” to this devolution deal with no erosion of the current set-up – only more powers on top of it all.

The man in charge of George Osborne’s “devolution revolution” said he had been so impressed with Lincolnshire’s offer that he decided to bump the announcement up the waiting list.

But even he recognised the deal had a “uniqueness”, with the industrial engine of the Humber combined with what is principally a rural county – a combination not everyone believes sits naturally.

‘Huge moment’

The likes of Grimsby MP Melanie Onn and Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin had pushed for a Humber Estuary devolution deal instead, linking the South Bank with Hull and the East Riding, but North East and North Lincolnshire leaders turned their attention south.

What is interesting about this yellowbelly formation, uniting a population of one million people, is what a vast area it combines.

Stamford in south Lincolnshire is almost as close to London as it is Grimsby, but yet now the two will be tied economically after Westminster handed the county control over a number of functions, including transport, infrastructure investment, health care and even prison services.

“This is a huge moment for Lincolnshire,” said Mr Clark, an advocate for devolution for more than a decade.

“It is the first deal we have done with a predominately rural area. It has got the important local authorities along the South Bank of the Humber and that is what makes it unique – that large rural area combined with an important industrial area.

“It deserves huge congratulations on beating many other areas who had prepared bids, as it managed to get to the head of the queue.”

The bumper £450 million devolution investment – a cash pot of £15 million annually for the next 30 years – will come on the proviso that all ten councils agree to the terms which includes an elected metro mayor for the region. Think Boris Johnson but with less panache.

Advocates for the deal say it could boost the area’s economy by £8 billion, provide 29,000 jobs and see 100,000 homes built.

Will it be enough money?

But the deal was not without its critics.

Ms Onn said, when broken down, the money equated to £15 per person every year and questioned whether it was enough to deliver the growth promised.

Infrastructure projects cost a great deal of money.

The transformation of the A160 at South Killingholme into a dual carriage superhighway comes with a £90 million price tag, and even the Immingham bypass, costing nearly £8 million, would have wiped out half the county’s new devolution budget for the year.

But yet, if the heavy infrastructure spending does have to come out of the devolution fund, that same cash pot would have to still stretch to pay for healthcare improvements, the upkeep of courts and the upgrading of flood defences, however.

The question is, will it manage to finance it all?

Mr Clark argued that the pot of cash allowed the “super authority” to be more inventive with the money.

“It allows them (the Lincolnshire councils) to leverage other money from investors,” he explained as he cut in and out of phone signal while he rode a train to his next meeting.

“This is money that wouldn’t have been available to the area. Without the deal, it simply wouldn’t be there. It can be used intelligently to encourage more investment in the area.”

Lincolnshire acted ‘shrewdly’

When the deal was announced, Conservative Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers said it had been imperative North East Lincolnshire got in on the act sooner rather than later as the devolution packages on offer were getting “less generous” by the month. …”