All 17 councils involved in the joint devolution bid are required to vote on the proposals, before leaders can progress with negotiations over the summer. It is hoped this could see a deal announced in time for the Autumn statement – but there are concerns among MPs that the current bid lacks clarity.

South West Devon MP Gary Streeter, said he and fellow MPs “greatly recognise and applaud” the work that Devon and Somerset councils have put in so far. But at the moment they have “more questions than answers”. “I think over the next two to three months, when we sit down with the new secretary of state and council leaders, we’re looking for those questions to be answered,” he said. “This is not the fault of the councils, it’s the fault of Government [that] it is still slightly vague and up in the air. “We’re not hostile, we’re just cautious at this stage, and want these questions to be answered. “We want more information about what the benefits will be to our constituents.”

To date, the Conservative Government has awarded 12 devolution deals to cities and regions across the UK. These have passed down greater control over a range of local services, including public health, transport and education.

Devon and Somerset councils collaborated with local national parks, CCGs and the Heart of the South West (HotSW) LEP to submit a joint bid in February. And following their most recent meeting with former local government secretary Greg Clark, they seem optimistic they will secure a deal. However, any progress rests on the individual district, unitary and county councils supporting the creation of a new combined authority (CA) for the region.

The proposal has already been voted through by a number of local authorities – including Exeter, Plymouth and Somerset – with Devon County Council due to vote on Thursday.

Somerset County Council leader John Osman believes the CA model present a far more suitable option than the alternative of a directly elected mayor. And he wants to clarify that it “will not take any powers or responsibilities” from the existing councils. “There is no appetite for a directly elected mayor in the Devon and Somerset area, so the Government have asked for an alternative,” he said.

“What [the combined authority] means is a board with one representative from every one of the 17 councils, the NHS and national parks, who will decide on the new powers and new responsibilities given. “It wont be a new bureaucracy or anything like that, [and] it wont be a massive committee of everybody. It will be 23 people around the room, one from each authority.”

If the proposals are accepted, Devon and Somerset will become the first region to receive devolved powers through a non-mayoral CA model. However, any progress rests on the individual district, unitary and county councils supporting the creation of a new combined authority (CA) for the region.

The proposal has already been voted through by a number of local authorities – including Exeter, Plymouth and Somerset – with Devon County Council due to vote on Thursday.

Somerset County Council leader John Osman believes the CA model present a far more suitable option than the alternative of a directly elected mayor. And he wants to clarify that it “will not take any powers or responsibilities” from the existing councils. “There is no appetite for a directly elected mayor in the Devon and Somerset area, so the Government have asked for an alternative,” he said. “What [the combined authority] means is a board with one representative from every one of the 17 councils, the NHS and national parks, who will decide on the new powers and new responsibilities given. “It wont be a new bureaucracy or anything like that, [and] it wont be a massive committee of everybody. It will be 23 people around the room, one from each authority.”

If the proposals are accepted, Devon and Somerset will become the first region to receive devolved powers through a non-mayoral CA model.

Leaders are hoping that all councils will be on side with the proposals by the end of July, to enable them to start further negotiations with Whitehall over the summer. Their next aim is to have a draft deal from the Government for local authorities to vote on by the end of October. They believe this could lead to an official deal being announced in November’s Autumn Statement.

Councillor Osman admits that the recent cabinet reshuffle – which saw Greg Clark replaced by Sajid Javid – has created some uncertainty. But he says it remains his ambition “to get a deal done and dusted by November time”. “We are now getting into contact with the new secretary of state and the chancellor to say we are still on track and working with civil servants,” he said. “We need to hear back from them to ensure they are still carrying on with the previous administrations line. “I can’t think why he wouldn’t to be honest, it was a conservative policy. But we’ve made contact and we’ve just got it wait for a response.”

The HotSW bid asks for a range of powers, including greater control over road and rail investment, more influence over house building and land use, and better integration of health and social care. Similar responsibilities have been devolved to other areas, including Cornwall, but only authorities with mayors have gained significant control over health budgets and business rates. The additional funding allocated to fund devolution also varies from deal to deal, starting from £15 million a year in Lincolnshire, to £36 million in the West Midlands.

At a Plymouth City Council meeting earlier this month, Labour councillor Tudor Evans called for a “serious conversation” about money. He argued the South West deal must not “set up the combined authority… for a fall”. He told the council chamber: “We’ve known for along time things like adult social care… health services… public health [are] inadequately funded. “We must use this… to unlock the bad funding formulae that have consigned us to not doing the best we can for too many years.”

Coun. Osman states that “the devil is in the detail” when it comes to finances. But he is confident that as councils take on new responsibilities from Government “funding will hopefully follow”. “If not, there is an inkling that we will be able to get some other sources of funding well,” he said. “Not council tax rises or anything like that, but money from central government or business rate rises.”

An area of underlying tension throughout the development of the bid has been geography, with Government keen for bids to focus on LEP boundaries. However, there are those who argue an authority which straddles multiple cities and counties will lack the sense of unity and identity enjoyed by somewhere like Cornwall. Other large multi-authority bids have come close to unravelling, with the East Anglia deal eventually being split into two after Cambridgeshire County Council rejected plans.

Gary Streeter points out that while the tendency in Somerset is “to look Eastwards toward Bristol and London”, in Devon the natural instinct is to look West toward Cornwall. “Most of us feel that… the region should be Devon and Cornwall, but we seem to have gone past that point,” he said. “Some people feel more strongly about it than others, particularly I think the Somerset MPs…. but is not necessarily a deal breaker. “There seems to be broad support for establishing Devon and Somerset. And there is support for a combined authority, provided we know how its going to work and its not simply adding another tier of government.”

Coun. Osman believes a break-up of the Devon and Somerset alliance is “unlikely”, adding that ministers are “pleased” that the 23 authorities have remained united. He said council leaders and staff will work hard over coming months to make the most of an opportunity to “shape the agenda for the South West”.

Mr Streeter is more reserved, suggesting that the new secretary of state may want to take a fresh look at the devolution agenda. He states that a November timetable “is a possibility” but “a lot of water has got to flow under that bridge yet”, and MPs will get a vote on the final deal. “Over the next two or three months… the detail [of the deal] is likely to change and emerge, so I think people shouldn’t get too hung up on the detail,” he added. “My own feeling is that with the new secretary of state coming in… some of the slight vagueness of the current proposal will be addressed.”

At a glance: What is a combined authority?

The 17 Devon and Somerset councils making a joint bid for devolution have been asked to support a new combined authority in order to progress to a deal.

Councillors stress this is not an attempt to merge authorities, or to take powers from lower tier councils– but there is potential for this to change.

Ministers first legislated for the creation of combined authorities in 2009, to allow councils to pool resources for the delivery of local services.

Their powers were enhanced by the passage of the recent Cities and Local Government Devolution Act, and the model has subsequently been taken up in a number of areas bidding for devolution.

In areas like Great Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, they have opted to establish CAs under the control of an elected mayor. However, the Heart of the South West (HotSW) region could be one of the first areas to secure a devolution package with a non-mayoral CA.

As proposals currently stand, the Devon and Somerset CA would be made up of one member from each council, national park, Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) involved with the bid. Council leaders claim it will not be a physical entity or a “new bureaucracy,” but will simply be a way to coordinate the distribution of new funds and powers throughout the region.

The aim is to improve oversight without resorting to a directly elected mayor system, which many see as unsuitable for a region as large and diverse as Devon and Somerset. However, reports state that it is possible to change to a mayoral CA at a later date, and for powers to be transferred from lower tier councils “subject to agreement”.