Devolution bid to bring ?1bn to Bristol

Bristol and its surrounding authorities have submitted a joint bid to release £1 billion of investment for the area’s transport and housing.

The West of England’s bid was submitted on deadline after Chancellor George Osborne asked city regions to put forward their plans for devolution.

The plans do not include proposals for a combined authority, which the councils say will all depend on the outcome of the financial package.

Businesses and some politicians have already warned that the area is falling behind other cities, like Manchester, by not yet agreeing to power sharing through an elected “metro mayor”.

Leaders in the area have launched a strategic review of governance, which could take another 16 months.

But last Friday’s bid directly to the Chancellor laid out a plan to bring more money to the region.

The West of England proposes a £1bn 10-year investment fund which they say would triple the level of spending on infrastructure projects in transport, housing and flood defences.

The money would be raised through loans by each of the local authorities on a ‘payment by results’ method, where the Government would pay the debts once the projects were completed.

George Ferguson said the Government would be “backing a winner” if they chose to invest in the region, while his fellow leaders said the authorities were working well together.

If the bid was successful it would mean a more joined up approach to how money was spent on major infrastructure like transport, which affects the whole area.

Tim Warren, leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council (Banes), said: “By working collaboratively with our West of England partners we can deliver greater investment for our whole region whilst at the same time maintaining the distinct identity of each of our areas.”

Ideas on exactly how the four local authorities – Bristol, Banes, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset – might share power are thin on the ground as many surrounding authorities and all the Labour groups in the area oppose the metro mayor model successful in other areas.

Warren told the Local Government Chronical the day before the bid was submitted: “The mayoral issue will be a stopping point for me and will be for all of us so we will be negotiating that. We don’t need a mayor.”

He added that a combined authority was likely to be formed but said leaders “don’t want and won’t accept” a reformation of Avon County Council, abolished in 1996.

Last week’s bid also includes greater local control over post-16 training and skills.

Ferguson said: “The West of England is already the UK’s most economically productive region, but this deal will help to secure and improve our position rather than risk falling behind some of our Northern counterparts.

“We’re calling on the Government to recognise the obvious advantages of backing a winner by giving us the freedom we need to be even more successful and make a real difference to local lives and UK PLC.”

The Government is expected to make a decision on the bid in time for the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on November 25.