Twenty cities and their wider areas will be given the opportunity to bid for radical new powers to boost local growth, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Cities Minister Greg Clark have announced.
The second wave of ‘City Deals’ invites twenty cities and their wider areas to compete for deals that would see Government devolve powers in exchange for responsibility for delivering growth locally.
Cities from the successful first wave of deals secured groundbreaking powers including the ability to ‘earn back’ tax from the Treasury, devolved transport budgets and control of the skills budget for their city.
The first wave saw deals struck with England’s eight largest cities, with final sign off by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Cities, Greg Clark, and city leaders in July 2012.
This latest announcement is aimed at the next fourteen largest cities and their wider areas and the next six with the highest population growth between 2001 to 2010. These are: the Black Country; Bournemouth; Brighton and Hove; Greater Cambridge; Coventry and Warwickshire; Hull and Humber; Ipswich; Leicester and Leicestershire; Milton Keynes; Greater Norwich; Oxford; Reading; Plymouth; Preston and Lancashire; Southampton and Portsmouth; Southend; Stoke and Staffordshire; Sunderland and the North East; Swindon and Wiltshire; and Tees Valley.
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg said: “In the best English tradition we have witnessed a quiet revolution across the nation’s eight largest cities.
“From control over buses and trains and the freedom to plug skills gaps, to powers to ‘earn back’ tax and set up local investment funds to spend on local projects – the deals are unlocking the huge potential of our cities so they can go for growth.
“Now its time to free even more places from Whitehall control. I want these twenty cities and their wider areas to come up with ambitious and innovative proposals to help them make changes that will be felt by everyone across their region.”
City Deals are a key part of the Government’s objectives of rebalancing the economy and boosting private sector growth.
The second wave of City Deals will accelerate the pace of decentralisation and unlock new and innovative ways to drive growth. Deals will represent a genuine transaction between cities and Government, with ‘asks’ and ‘offers’ from both sides.
Leaders in the wave two cities will be asked to work together across their regions and to put forward proposals designed to unlock the full growth potential of the area. These proposals will need to be ambitious, harness public and private sector resources, and demonstrate strong leadership in the local area. The cities with the strongest propositions will be invited to negotiate a deal with the Government.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for Cities, Greg Clark, said: “Every British city is unique – in its history, strengths, industries and character. For too long governments treated them as if they were all the same, making them conform to a Whitehall template.
“City Deals put each city in the driving seat. Each city can seize the initiative and show what it needs to prosper and grow, even if it’s new and different. If it’s in the city’s interest and the national interest, we’ll strike a deal and make it happen.”
