Interesting to conjecture what the impact of hiving off the two concentrated urban areas of Plymouth and Torbay into combined authorities has been on the rural economy of Devon. Obviously services can be provided more efficiently to urban areas than to rural ones. Despite this Torbay has been struggling. – Owl

Guy Henderson www.devonlive.com

A devolution deal which will see more power and money coming Devon’s way has been hailed as ‘fantastic’ by the leader of Torbay Council. And while Devon County Council ’s top councillor agrees it is hugely significant, his counterpart at Plymouth City Council has decided it would be a ‘backward step’ and wants no part of it at all.

Under the deal announced by the government last week, Torbay and Devon will become one powerful combined local authority.

But Plymouth will not be part of the union. Exeter City Council and Devon’s other district councils – West Devon, Mid Devon, East Devon, North Devon, Torridge, Teignbridge and South Hams – are also not part of the deal and will remain intact.

The people involved in Torbay and at Devon County Council are adamant that the new combined authority is not a merger, but instead two councils coming together as equal partners.

For football fans, imagine Exeter and all of those districts are in League Two. As unitary authorities, Torbay and Plymouth are currently with Devon County Council in League One.

But the devolution deal means that while Plymouth will choose to stay where it is, the new Torbay/Devon combo will be promoted to the higher-stakes Championship of local government.

The Premier League remains the domain of giant mayor-led authorities like those in Greater Manchester, Liverpool and South Yorkshire. The Torbay/Devon combined authority will not have an elected mayor. But it should have more resources.

The new partnership will be run by a ‘cabinet’ consisting of three elected councillors from Torbay and three from Devon, probably the leader of each council and two more.

The district councils will have four seats at the table between them, and there will be places for other people to be appointed. These could include business leaders, education chiefs and the county’s police and crime commissioner.

An overall leader will be chosen by members of the ‘cabinet.’

Supporters of the deal say it will give the combined authority (CA) a seat at the top table when the government doles out grants and support for projects covering issues such as local transport, adult education and the drive to achieve ‘net zero’ in carbon emissions.

Nigel Long of the Local Government Information Unit says that by this time next year the majority of the population in England will be living in council areas covered by a combined authority.

More powers are coming, too. Housing investment and the regulation of social housing are among the policies being considered for devolution by the current government.

And in the future, says Mr Long, devolved local authorities could even take back control of energy, transport and water for the first time in decades.

The Local Government Association says a combined authority allows a group of two or more councils to collaborate and take collective decisions across council boundaries. It says it is ‘far more robust’ than an informal partnership or even a joint committee.

It goes on: “The creation of a CA means that member councils can be more ambitious in their joint working and can take advantage of powers and resources devolved to them from national government.”

The government says a transfer of power from Whitehall to local leaders will help to address weak economic performance and the high regional levels of inequality.

In July, the Institute for Government said: “Devolution has led to improved decision-making in many places – but is no silver bullet. Devolution deals have enabled local leaders to allocate resources, regenerate their economies and reshape public services in light of local needs and preferences.”

Labour supports devolution, too, meaning that the Torbay/Devon process is unlikely to be derailed whatever happens at the next general election.

Torbay says the new deal is “ground-breaking” and will build on the bay’s long history of working as partners with the county council. Projects like the A380 South Devon Highway were founded on the close partnership between the authorities.

Torbay Council leader David Thomas said: “We see real opportunities from our continued working together on transport and other key issues across Devon and Torbay, and we are confident this devolution deal will bring positive benefits for our residents, economy and communities.”

And John Hart, leader of Devon County Council, added: “It will put Devon and Torbay in a new and very different relationship with government, one where we will have a stronger voice in Whitehall and an ability to influence policy.

“We have, for a long time, worked well as neighbouring authorities to deliver good public services for Devon residents and to tackle key local priorities. The prospect of significant government funding and powers devolved locally will enable us as a partnership to make a real difference to people’s lives.”

A public consultation will now be launched, and a final decision on whether or not the promotion to the ‘Championship’ goes ahead is expected early in 2024.

However, Plymouth City Council leader Tudor Evans has warned the proposed deal was “unreasonable and unrealistic.”

He said it would have seen Plymouth having less power and control over transport in the city, with no commitment to increased resources. The city has been working alongside Devon and Torbay on the deal for more than two years, from before the current Labour administration took over, but has now decided it doesn’t make sense for Plymouth.

Cllr Evans said: “The final deal on the table would have been a step backwards given that 25 years ago Plymouth became a unitary authority and took back responsibility for key areas such as education and transport.

“The aim of a devolution deal was to hand control from Whitehall to a Devon combined authority, not take away existing powers from Plymouth. The government is insisting that we surrender our powers and funding regarding transport. Therefore, we have no choice but to withdraw. It is massively disappointing.

“In the meantime, we wish our Devon and Torbay colleagues well in progressing a deal that is right for them.”

Bearing in mind the damage done only a year ago by Liz Truss, these two paragraphs from Paul Johnson spell out the risks, short and long term ,of what the Tories have now done. – Owl

 Paul Johnson, Director of the IFS ifs.org.uk:

Two paragraphs from his response to the Autumn Statement 2023 

Announcing immediate tax cuts in response to highly uncertain changes in assumptions about the UK’s medium-term economic prospects does not feel like a recipe for good management of the public finances, especially when some extra “space” is opened up by announcing another year of very low increases in public service spending, and cuts in investment spending, which may prove hard to deliver.

This may turn out to be risky even in the short run. His so called “headroom” against a rather loose fiscal target is minuscule and the OBR could easily take it away in the Spring Budget with some very small changes to forecasts. What will he do then? Certainly, whoever is Chancellor after the next general election is going to have very little room for manoeuvre.

Tory Mayor Calls On James Cleverly To Apologise Over Stockton ‘S***hole’ Row

A Tory mayor has called on James Cleverly to apologise after he was accused of calling an English town a “shithole” in the Commons.

Kevin Schofield www.huffingtonpost.co.uk 

The home secretary has denied making the comment about Stockton North during prime minister’s questions yesterday.

It came after Alex Cunningham, the Labour MP for Stockton North, asked Rishi Sunak why 34% of children in his constituency lived in poverty.

Cleverly has insisted that he actually called Cunningham “a shit MP”.

But in an extraordinary intervention, Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor for Tees Valley, effectively called his party colleague a liar by demanding he say sorry.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), he said: “I’m not interested in excuses and I will always put our area above party politics, and it is clear to me that the home secretary should apologise for dragging Stockton’s name through the mud.

“Having made huge progress in recent years with major investment, thousands of jobs and Teesside forging a brighter future in the in the industries of the future including a new era of steelmaking, this type of language only furthers the outdated and inaccurate stereotypes we’ve battled for years.

“We’re a wonderful place and passionate and proud community, and people across the world are looking at the exciting future that is emerging before us – but childish and unprofessional language used by Westminster politicians, who should know better, does nothing to help our plans for progress.”

When the row erupted yesterday, a spokesman for Cleverly said: “He didn’t say that. He wouldn’t say that. He’s disappointed anyone would accuse him of it.”

But in response to Houchen’s comments, a source close to the home secretary said: “James made a comment. He called Alex Cunningham a shit MP. He apologises for unparliamentary language.

“As was made clear yesterday, he would never criticise Stockton. He’s campaigned in Stockton and is clear that it is a great place.”