County Hall on Fishergate Hill in Preston city centre Pic: Tony Worrall With Lancashire seemingly closer than ever to doing a devolution deal with the gover
With Lancashire seemingly closer than ever to doing a devolution deal with the government – after a minister declared in the Commons this week that a proposal could emerge before the end of November – we take a look at what devolution would mean for the county, how it would work and why it has taken so long to get here.
The search for consensus has not been helped by the fact that the government has, at various times, made devolution deals contingent upon – or at least strongly linked to – the two things that are most likely to cause a row between Lancashire’s leaders: the creation of an elected mayor and a reduction in the number of councils operating in the county.
Central government enthusiasm for such shake-ups in so-called two-tier areas like Lancashire – those made up of a county council, district authorities like Preston and standalone councils such as Blackpool – was born out of the desire to ensure that the structures set up to oversee any devolved powers did not become unwieldy as a result of having too many competing voices around the table.
Not only do devolved areas get more control over their own destiny and receive government funding that would otherwise be spent by Whitehall, they are also increasingly getting preferential access to other pots of funding – especially when it comes to transport. Leaders laid out a bold bid for powers and cash in areas including transport, housing, economic growth, climate change and skills. In doing so, they were seizing upon a commitment by the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, for shire areas like Lancashire to be able to seek their own bespoke “county deals”, seemingly stripped of the prerequisites in which past devolution offers had been wrapped.
The sensitive issues of votes and vetoes – which, in previous years, had been almost as incendiary as those of an elected mayor and slashing the total number of councils – would be addressed by the formation of a joint committee. The LDRS understands that that could be achieved by giving two district council representatives associate member status on the CCA, alongside figures from academia and business. Under the government’s rules, such members do not automatically have voting rights, but it is understood that these could be instituted for some or all of the associates if unanimously backed by the full members.
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