ST HELENS is expected to sign up for devolution and be part of a Liverpool City Region with greater powers and an elected mayor after the Treasury announced local authority leaders will sign the deal today.
 
Communities Minister Greg Clark and Commercial Secretary to the HM Treasury Jim O’Neill are set to sign the agreement alongside local leaders today in Liverpool, said HM Treasury.

The announcement, which was under embargo until release this morning, comes as something of a surprise as councillors in St Helens, Liverpool, Wirral, Halton, Knowlsey and Sefton are due to meet as individual authorities to the debate the plans later this week.

St Helens Council had been seen as the most reluctant of the local authorities to sign up to the agreement, with Council Leader Barrie Grunewald maintaining in recent months that the benefits of any deal would have to be worthwhile to convince councillors.

However, their position appears to have softened in the past week.

St Helens Council would not comment publicly on the HM Treasury's announcement but referred the Star to a statement from Councillor Phil Davies, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, who said: “Our discussions with Government are ongoing.  They are positive and constructive. 

"Individual councils will be considering progress at their meetings on November 19 2015.”

According to the Treasury, voters will choose a directly elected Mayor in 2017, who will take on a raft of new powers as part of plans to take power out of Whitehall.

This includes power over local transport budgets and franchised bus services and increased responsibility over employment support and skills provision.

The Treasury says the deal also includes control over investment worth £30 million a year for the next 30 years.

In a statement, the treasury said: "A total of £900m will help unlock the huge economic potential of the iconic River Mersey and the new Superport as well as maximising the opportunities from HS2.
 
"The deal also includes support for Liverpool’s strengths in attracting major international events, with backing for the city’s International Festival for Business as well as its cultural attractions, with plans to establish a sustainable business model for National Museums Liverpool."
 
Chancellor George Osborne said: “Today is a historic day for the Liverpool City Region and a historic day for the Northern Powerhouse.

"This revolutionary deal cements the area’s position as a gateway to the north, from North Wales all the way to Newcastle, and gives local people control over their own affairs for the first time.”

“In becoming the fifth northern city region to take on these new powers, the momentum of the Northern Powerhouse is now simply unstoppable and I want to thank the Council leaders for working together to come to an agreement which will give Liverpool City Region a powerful new voice in national life.”
 
What will an elected mayor do?


The new, directly elected Liverpool City Region Mayor will act as Chair to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and will exercise the following powers and functions devolved from central Government:
 

  • Responsibility for a devolved and consolidated local transport budget, with a multi-year settlement to be agreed at the Spending Review.
  • Responsibility for franchised bus services, which will support the Combined Authority’s delivery of smart and integrated ticketing across the Combined Authority.
  • Powers over strategic planning, including the responsibility to create a Single Statutory City Region Framework, a Mayoral Development Corporation and to develop with government a Land Commission and a Joint Assets Board for economic assets.

 
The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, working with the Liverpool City Region Mayor, will receive the following powers:

  • Control of a £30 million a year funding allocation over 30 years, to be invested in the Liverpool City Region Single Investment Fund, to unlock the economic potential of the River Mersey and Superport as well as maximise the opportunities from HS2.
  • Responsibility for chairing an area-based review of 16+ skills provision, the outcomes of which will be taken forward in line with the principles of the devolved arrangements, and devolved 19+ adult skills funding from 2018/19.
  • Joint responsibility with Government to co-design employment support for the harder-to-help claimants, many of whom are currently referred to the Work Programme and Work Choice.
  •  More effective joint working with UKTI to boost trade and investment, and responsibility to work with Government to develop and implement a devolved approach to the delivery of national business support programmes from 2017.
  • Building on the success of International Festival for Business (IFB) 2014 and the proposals for IFB 2016, Liverpool City Region and the Government, and in particular UKTI and the GREAT Britain campaign, will continue engagement to establish IFB Liverpool as a vital feature of the international business calendar in 2018 and 2020.