East Midlands given established status as govt ‘rewires the state’
The East Midlands will request beefed-up local powers from the government after being handed more control over its budgets and key policy areas this week.
EMCCA was one of four fledgeling combined authorities to be given established strategic authority status this week, alongside Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, West of England, and York & North Yorkshire.
The authority will get enhanced powers over areas such as housing and transport as a result of the move, part of government plans to shift the UK’s centre of gravity away from Westminster.
As an established authority, the East Midlands will received an integrated budget settlement, giving it more flexibility over how it manages its budgets, rather than receiving multiple streams of funding from central government to spend on specific policy areas.
Established status also means EMCCA can ask government for additional powers and responsibilities in the future – with EMCCA’s chief executive Amy Harhoff confirming the authority would be pursuing “deeper devolution” on the back of the decision.
The move was announced as part of a cabinet statement issued on Friday on ‘Rewiring the state’, a set of policies intended to decentralise government power away from Whitehall and into the UK’s devolved regions.
A white paper is expected from the Government in the autumn setting out a timetable for its next steps in the plan.
“Achieving established status is a clear signal from government of the progress we have made as a region, a signal of our maturity and track record,” said Harhoff.
“With established status, we can now pursue deeper devolution for the region including more flexibility with our funding from government and requesting new powers and responsibilities to unlock the barriers to growth.
“We will continue to work with our partners, from improving transport and skills to supporting jobs, housing and climate resilience, to understand and work with our businesses to deliver inclusive growth, as one Team East Midlands.”
