Council leader '˜excited' as devolution deal is agreed

Although all the councils will continue to exist in their current form, they will also come together to form a ‘combined authority’ to exercise the new powers.

Like other areas with devolved powers, such as Sheffield and Manchester, the combined authority will also have its own directly elected mayor.

The funding and responsibilities will include transport, housing, skills training and flood risk management. Further commitments are also agreed on health and social care, as well as court and prison services. The aim is to ensure local accountability, making the new body answerable to the one million people in Greater Lincolnshire.

Each council will have to formally agree the deal at their full council, following consultation with residents in the summer.

The devolution arrangements could boost the area’s economy by £8bn, create 29,000 jobs and provide 100,000 new homes. The combined authority will receive £15m a year, for the next 30 years, for infrastructure projects to boost economic growth, and will have responsibility for a devolved and consolidated, multi-year local transport budget for the entire combined authority area.

The funding will only be for new responsibilities and will not affect the current budget proposals recently agreed by each council.

WLDC leader Jeff Summers said: “The devolution deal offered by the Government is very positive for West Lindsey and Greater Lincolnshire. This cements our relationship with central government and will support economic growth in Lincolnshire.

“Individual councils across Lincolnshire will be debating the proposals over the coming months , hopefully culminating in a unanimous vote to progress with this exciting project.

“Once the deal is finalised by the due process we will be continually looking to add further items to our devolution deal. A deal will unlock the ability to make more decisions locally and thereby prioritise more government funding to meet local need.”