By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottingham city councillors have agreed to the creation of an East Midlands combined authority to help the region gain greater controls and more money from the Government.
As part of the £1.14bn agreement, a mayor will be elected to cover the combined authority of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire.
The mayor, similar to the West Midlands’ Andy Street or Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham, will have the power to make major decisions locally.
The combined authority will receive £38m annually for 30 years and have greater controls over how money is spent on transport, education, housing, and the environment.
During an Extraordinary Full Council meeting on Thursday, December 7, city councillors unanimously agreed to the creation of the East Midlands Combined County Authority.
David Mellen (Lab), the leader of the council, said: “We are here today in this chamber to move this report and conclude a journey we started about two years ago.
“This is a significant day for our city and it is right we hold an extraordinary Full Council meeting today because, for us in the East Midlands, it is an unprecedented step.
“This is not about extra bureaucracy. It’s not really about more layers of local government. It is more about investment in our region, in our city, an estimated £4bn flowing into the region over the next 30 years.
“This is about working with our neighbouring authorities to do what’s best for the people we serve. Securing funding for more jobs and skills, homes, and further improve our transport infrastructure and the environment.
“Devolution helps to address historic under-investment in the East Midlands. We have for too long been bottom of the league for investment in infrastructure and transport in particular.”
The £1.4bn, criticised by some as a minor amount compared to other devolution deals, comes in addition to the devolution of the adult skills budget of £50m a year and the city region sustainable transport settlement of more than £1.5bn over five years, which comes amid the cancellation of HS2.
East Midlands investment zones will also help bring in up to £160m through tax relief and funding for green technologies.
Cllr Steve Battlemuch (Lab) argued the deal could help push for the potential redrawing of city boundaries, which currently restrict the amount of council tax raised.
More than 80 per cent of properties in Nottingham belong to bands A and B, resulting in a lower tax yield compared to some other cities.
“Economic development does not start and end at these tight city boundaries that we have, I hope this devolution deal will lead to greater cooperation with the councils on our borders,” he said.
He also said the deal would help the region shout louder for better transport investment, particularly following the cancellation of HS2.
“One thing we have also got to look at is transport,” he said.
“While we can get down to London and get a train in an hour and 40 minutes, it is ridiculous that it takes probably longer than that to get to Birmingham 50 miles away.
“It takes longer than that to get to Liverpool and Manchester. We need to start using this power that we are going to have, this level of shouting we are going to have, as a bigger region.”
However Cllr Battlemuch added: “This extra resource is not a substitute for the millions we have lost over the last decade.
“This city has lost £100m a year, and lets not forget that. But lets take this deal for what it is. It is not perfect, it needs improvement, but it is the first of a step of East Midlands devolution.”
Earlier on Thursday, Nottinghamshire County councillors also voted in favour of the deal alongside Derby and Derbyshire.
Cllr Ben Bradley MP (Con), leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said “it’s now full steam ahead”.
The mayoral election will be held on May 2, 2024.
Several parties have already selected candidates, including Cllr Ben Bradley for the Conservatives; former MP Clare Ward for Labour and Cllr Matt Relf as an independent.
