11 October 2024Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner today (October 10) chaired the first-ever Mayoral Council – hosted in the North East – to discuss how best to shift power away from Westminster and into communities.
Regional mayors were invited to the roundtable at The Common Room in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to share their views on the development of the upcoming English Devolution White Paper. This will set out the government’s plans to widen devolution to more areas and deepen the powers of existing mayors and their combined authorities, ensuring they have the tools needed to boost economic growth.
The Deputy Prime Minister established the Mayoral Council to strengthen the relationships between central government and the mayors, ensuring those with skin in the game are involved in discussions concerning devolution and the White Paper has the fingerprints of local people on it.
Although this may not align directly with the form of devolution the sector is familiar with, it marks the first step toward a future where the sector will need to engage with regional mayors.
