Frequently asked questions and answers
Q) What is devolution?
A) Devolution is the transfer of powers and funding from national government to local government.
Q) What sort of devolution deal are we looking at?
A) We are looking at a devolution deal to set up a combined authority. If the deal is approved by central government, it would create a new East Midlands Mayoral Combined Authority. This is known as a ‘level 3 deal’. Level 1 and level 2 deals offer considerably fewer transfers of powers and budget from central government.
A combined authority is a legal body created through national legislation that enables a group of two or more councils to collaborate and take collective decisions across council boundaries.
A combined authority is more than an informal partnership or even a joint committee. It empowers member councils to be more ambitious in their joint working, taking advantage of powers and resources devolved to them from national government.
Q) Why are we doing this?
A) We are doing this:
- to address underfunding in the East Midlands
- to focus spending on local priorities
- to work together across services and use local knowledge to get better value for money
- to bring in new investment, better training, and job opportunities, and upgraded and more connected public transport to the area
- to be more self-sufficient and have more responsibility for the future of the local area
- so that more major decisions can be taken by locally elected politicians who better understand local issues, and can be held to account more easily
Ultimately, the reason we are doing this is to make sure that services across the region are the best they can be, for the benefit of our residents.
Q) What would happen to existing local councils in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire? Will they be merged, so they no longer exist?
A) We are not talking about merging councils together. If the devolution deal is successful, all local councils in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire - including Nottingham City and Derby City – will continue to exist, as they do now.
Q) What powers would councils lose if they became part of a combined authority?
A) None. This is about central government devolving powers to the region, not individual councils giving up power to the region. Local councils will continue to make the decisions over local issues.
Q) What would happen to local council services?
A) There will be no immediate changes to local council services if the devolution deal is agreed. In the longer term, some services might be delivered on a regional rather than local basis, if this is deemed more efficient or better value for money.
Q) How much money will we get?
A) This depends on the devolution deal that is agreed for our area. We don’t know exactly how much extra funding the region would get, as this needs to be negotiated and agreed with central government.
In previous Mayoral / Combined Authority deals, the amount of gain share funding (financial allocations set aside to be spent or borrowed against for the purpose of local investment) averaged at £30 million per year per deal, but the true financial net benefit of devolution could be much more than that.
The East Midlands has long been overlooked, in comparison to other Combined Authority areas like the West Midlands and Greater Manchester – public spending per person is lowest in the East Midlands at £12,113 – 10% below the UK average.
Q) Why would more local decision making be better?
A) Local decision making tends to result in better local economic performance, as policies are tailored to the needs of specific areas.
Local leaders often know and understand the areas much better than politicians and civil servants based in the capital, and their knowledge and experience can deliver what is appropriate and what will work for their region, especially when they work with nearby public and private sector partners.
Q) What will we get from a devolution deal?
A) We want to be ambitious for our region and make the most of this opportunity.
We will negotiate with the government to get the best deal possible, so that we can have better services for our communities and improve the lives of our residents, whether that’s by better public transport, more jobs and training, more investment, or better environments for everyone who calls the East Midlands home.
Q) Why do we need an elected regional mayor?
A) One of the conditions for a level 3 deal, which offers the most local powers and funding, is having an elected mayor. The role of an elected regional mayor would be to look at major issues which affect our whole area, a prominent, accountable person who can look at the big picture and give the region more of a voice.
A mayor with a clear and direct mandate, strong accountability, and the power to make change happen, could be a powerful driving force for the East Midlands.
If approved, the mayor would work together with leaders of local councils to create a strategy for the wider area. This is a critical role, and it is essential that this person should be democratically accountable.
Local councils would still be responsible for most public services, such as waste management, schools, recreational facilities, and so forth. The mayor would focus on wider issues that span across the area, like transport, regeneration, and employment.
Q) What powers are you asking for in the devolution bid?
A) We are focussing on key areas including transport and infrastructure, business growth,
inward investment, strategic regeneration, employment, employment skills, supporting young people’s journey into adulthood, and community safety.
We believe that these are areas the entire region would benefit from, in terms of greater investment and more decision making at a local level.
Q) Isn’t this just adding another layer of bureaucracy?
A) This isn’t about adding a layer of unnecessary bureaucracy but moving resources and decision-making powers which already exist from London to the East Midlands and making all of this democratically accountable to the people who live here.
Devolution is mainly about strengthening regional arrangements. If a combined authority deal was approved, it would come with new wide scale powers not currently available at a local level.
These new powers would be exercised across the whole region, with the consent of local councils in our area. This is because they would add value by addressing issues like transport that benefit from being planned on a wider geographical basis.
Q) If devolution is about getting access to more funding, why couldn’t we have that in the first place?
A) The East Midlands has long been overlooked, in comparison to other areas like the West Midlands and Greater Manchester in terms of government investment. Public spending per person is lowest in the East Midlands at £12,113 – 10% below the UK average.
The government has made it clear through their Levelling Up White Paper that they believe more local decision-making leads to better outcomes for communities, and so the greatest benefits are attached to devolution deals which include more local accountability.
All the local councils involved in the joint bid believe that a combined authority, and devolution, is the best route to accessing extra funding and powers.
Q) If council resources are pooled to make them go further, would that mean a cut in real terms?
A) No, not at all. Pooling resources means ensuring consistent services across the region and using our combined resources for the good of our residents.
As well as bringing in more funding, devolution is an opportunity to be more efficient and cost effective with the resources we have.
Q) How much will this cost?
A) In the first few years, larger combined authorities liked the East Midlands have cost around £2 million a year. In the first and second year more than half of this cost is likely to be funded by central government through a grant.
During these first two years the East Midlands Mayoral Combined Authority will develop its budget and establish how it will fund costs in future years. In almost all cases, the budgets that are devolved from the government will fund the cost of the staff needed for those services.
In previous mayoral combined authority devolution deals the amount of extra funding averaged at £30 million per year per deal. Extra funding can be spent, or it can be borrowed against for the purpose of local investment, so the true financial benefit could be significantly higher than this, meaning the financial benefits of devolution would far outweigh the costs.
It is worth keeping in mind that devolution involves moving powers and funding from a national level to a local level, so much of the administration cost is already taking place, just at a different level of government.
Q) Will this mean a rise in Council Tax? Haven’t the four main councils involved in this asked for powers to raise money through more Council Tax in their bid?
A) In our initial bid to the government, we have asked for everything that is potentially on offer, as we don’t want to rule anything out at this early stage. We have included the power to raise money through Council Tax because it might be used at some point in the future.
Of the nine existing mayoral combined authorities, eight have this power, but only two have ever actually used it. So, this is a possible option, not a foregone conclusion.
Q) What will all this mean in practical terms for residents?
A) If a new devolution deal was approved, there wouldn’t be any immediate changes to local council services. In the longer term some services might be delivered on a regional rather than local level, if this was deemed more efficient or better value for money.
It would mean that we can:
- avoid duplication, leading to more efficient services
- create a stronger basis for bidding to the government for more funding
- make better use of council and government funding
- speed up decision making on big strategic issues
Ultimately it will mean that services across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Nottinghamshire will be the best they can be, for the benefit of our residents and local communities.
Q) What happens if we don’t have devolution?
A) It would be a major missed opportunity. We’d miss out on getting more funding for services in our region, and the efficiency of working at scale.
We could potentially get left behind compared to other areas who are part of devolution deals, giving them a bigger voice, as well as being able to make more major decisions locally, near the people they affect.
It’s likely we would have less influence over future government investment priorities, less financial certainty, would have to compete more for national funding, and we could lose the chance for a guaranteed funding stream.
Ultimately, we’d lose a big chance to improve public transport, get more investment for business growth, bring in more jobs, skills, and training, and improve the places where we live and work, as well as potentially much more.
Devolution is all about getting a better deal for our area, and we don’t want to miss out.
Q) Which areas have devolution arrangements like the one planned for the East Midlands? Which other areas are looking at setting this up?
A) Nine combined authorities with elected mayors currently exist in England:
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- Greater Manchester
- Liverpool City Region
- North of Tyne
- South Yorkshire
- Tees Valley
- West Midlands
- West of England
- West Yorkshire
Other areas were invited by the government in February 2022 to start formal negotiations to agree new devolution deals, with the aim of agreeing a number of these deals by autumn 2022:
- Cornwall
- Derbyshire and Derby
- Devon
- Durham
- Hull and East Yorkshire
- Leicestershire
- Norfolk
- Nottinghamshire and Nottingham
- Plymouth and Torbay
- Suffolk
Derby City Council, Derbyshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council have sent the government initial proposals to negotiate a combined devolution deal.
Q) Where are we in the process? What happens next?
A) We sent in our initial proposals to negotiate a combined devolution deal to the government on Friday the 25th of March.
Now, we will see what the government thinks of our submission, and we will begin negotiations for a deal.
The government has said that it aims to agree many new devolution deals by autumn 2022.
